LEWIS
HARRISON

My piano-led jazz fusion mixes timeless sounds with unique, contemporary elements. The piano is front and centre, whether its music is rich, sparse, simple, complex, powerful or delicate, often accompanied by simple electronic bass and drums. Sometimes I sing lyrics or rap poetry as I play. I aim to “speak” music fluently with spontaneity and flow. Whether improvising on the spot in real time, playing notated transcriptions of improvisations, or performing compositions, I always want the music to communicate directly and intelligibly without self-conscious posturing. Because music is the language of feeling.

Music is how I make sense of life – it’s like therapy

I love the irrepressible, spontaneous spirit of jazz and I’ve experimented with it on the piano since my teens, although sharing this music publicly is a recent development. My musical journey is complicated: too much pressure placed on me as a child doing classical piano competitions left me sensitive to some aspects of the music industry – its competitive, commercial nature and how it can turn music into a fashion or status object. For me, music is not an external thing at all but rather the universal language of feeling that we all understand. It tells our inner stories, expresses deep experiences, and describes inner worlds beyond the scope of words. It offers genuine solace, catharsis, joy and connection.

Childlike defiance

The name I use for this project is important to me: my early years were challenging but the encouragement and spirit of defiance that my Grandma – Louise Harrison – gave me, inspires me to this day. My role as a musician is to be a storyteller, more like a stand-up musician, commenting on human experience with real authenticity and vulnerability.

Here are a few sample tracks: