Harold Land

Harold de Vance Land (December 18, 1928 – July 27, 2001) was an American hard bop and post-bop tenor saxophonist. Land developed his hard bop playing with the Max Roach/Clifford Brown band into a personal, modern style. His tone was strong and emotional, yet displayed a certain fragility that made him easy to recognize.

Land was born in Houston and grew up in San Diego. He started playing at the age of 16. He made his first recording as the leader of the Harold Land All-Stars, for Savoy Records in 1949. In 1954 he joined the Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet. Because of family problems he moved to Los Angeles in 1955. There he played with Curtis Counce, led his own groups, and co-led groups with Bobby Hutcherson, Blue Mitchell, and Red Mitchell. From the 1970s onwards his style showed the influence of John Coltrane.

In the early 1980s through to the early 1990s he worked regularly with the Timeless All Stars, a group sponsored by the Timeless jazz record label. The group consisted of Land on tenor, Cedar Walton on piano, Buster Williams on bass, Billy Higgins on drums, Curtis Fuller on trombone and Bobby Hutcherson on vibes. Land also toured with his own band during this time, often including his son on piano and usually featuring Bobby Hutcherson and Billy Higgins as well. During these years he played regularly at Hop Singhs in Marina Del Rey in the L.A area and the Keystone Korner in San Francisco.

Land was a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. He joined the UCLA Jazz Studies Program as a lecturer in 1996 to teach instrumental jazz combo. "Harold Land was one of the major contributors in the history of the jazz saxophone," said jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell, founder and director of the UCLA Jazz Studies Program. "He was a vital and well-loved member of the jazz faculty here at UCLA."

Land died in July 2001, from a stroke, at the age of 72.

The progressive rock band Yes included a song "Harold Land" on their eponymous debut album in 1969. In a news/blog post on 20 September 2010, Bill Bruford commented about the song - "Harold Land was a hard-bop tenor saxophone player, dead now, but quite why we named a song after him I can’t remember."

As leader

• 1958: Harold in the Land of Jazz (Contemporary) also released as Grooveyard
• 1959: The Fox (HiFi Jazz)
• 1960: West Coast Blues! (Jazzland)
• 1960: Eastward Ho! Harold Land in New York (Jazzland)
• 1960: Take Aim (Blue Note) - released 1980
• 1961: Hear Ye! (Atlantic) as the Red Mitchell-Harold Land Quintet
• 1963: Jazz Impressions of Folk Music (Imperial)
• 1967: The Peace-Maker (Cadet)
• 1971: A New Shade of Blue (Mainstream)
• 1971: Choma (Burn) (Mainstream)
• 1977: Damisi (Mainstream)
• 1977: Mapenzi with Blue Mitchell (Concord Jazz)
• 1981: Xocia's Dance (Muse)
• 1995: A Lazy Afternoon (Postcards Records)
• 2001: Promised Land (Audiophoric)

As sideman

With Roy Ayers

• Virgo Vibes (Atlantic, 1967)

With Clifford Brown and Max Roach

• Jam Session (EmArcy, 1954) - with Maynard Ferguson and Clark Terry
• Brown and Roach Incorporated (EmArcy, 1954)
• Daahoud (Mainstream, 1954 [1973])
• Clifford Brown & Max Roach (EmArcy, 1954–55)
• Study in Brown (EmArcy, 1955)

With Dolo Coker

• Dolo! (Xanadu, 1976)

With Curtis Counce

• The Curtis Counce Group (Contemporary, 1956)
• You Get More Bounce with Curtis Counce! (Contemporary, 1957)
• Carl's Blues (Contemporary, 1957 [1960])
• Sonority (Contemporary, 1957-8 [1989])
• Exploring the Future (Dooto, 1958)

With Bill Evans

• Quintessence (Fantasy Records, 1976)

With Victor Feldman

• Vic Feldman on Vibes (Mode, 1957)
• Soviet Jazz Themes (Äva, 1962)

With Ella Fitzgerald

• Things Ain't What They Used to Be (And You Better Believe It) (1969)

With Chico Hamilton

• Chic Chic Chico (Impulse!, 1965)

With Hampton Hawes

• For Real! (Contemporary, 1958 [1961])
• Universe (Prestige, 1972)

With Billy Higgins

• Bridgework (Contemporary, 1987)
• ¾ for Peace (Red, 1993)
• Billy Higgins Quintet (Sweet Basil, 1993)

With Elmo Hope

• The Elmo Hope Quintet featuring Harold Land (Pacific Jazz, 1957)

With Freddie Hubbard

• Born to Be Blue (Pablo, 1982)

With Bobby Hutcherson

• Medina (Blue Note, 1969)
• Total Eclipse (Blue Note, 1968)
• Blow Up (Blue Note, 1969)
• Now! (Blue Note, 1969)
• San Francisco (Blue Note, 1970)
• Head On (Blue Note, 1971)
• Cirrus (Blue Note, 1974)
• Inner Glow (Blue Note, 1975)
• Farewell Keystone (Theresa, 1982 [1988])

With Carmell Jones

• The Remarkable Carmell Jones (Pacific Jazz 1961)
• Business Meeting (Pacific Jazz 1962)

With Les McCann

• Les McCann Sings (Pacific Jazz, 1961)

With Thelonious Monk

• Montgomeryland (Pacific Jazz, 1958)
• Wes, Buddy and Monk Montgomery (Pacific Jazz, 1959)

With Blue Mitchell

• Stratosonic Nuances (RCA, 1975)
• African Violet (Impulse!, 1977)
• Summer Soft (Impulse!, 1978)

With Donald Byrd

• Ethiopian Knights (Blue Note, 1971)

With Hampton Hawes

• For Real! (Contemporary, 1958)

With Timeless All Stars (Cedar Walton, Curtis Fuller, Bobby Hutcherson, Buster Williams, Billy Higgins)

• It's Timeless (Timeless, 1982)
• Timeless Heart (Timeless, 1983)
• Essence: The Timeless All Stars (Delos, 1986)
• Time For the Timeless All Stars (Early Bird Records, 1991)

With Shorty Rogers

• An Invisible Orchard (RCA Victor, 1961 [1997])

With Gerald Wilson

• You Better Believe It! (Pacific Jazz, 1961)
• Moment of Truth (Pacific Jazz, 1962)
• Portraits (Pacific Jazz, 1964)
• On Stage (Pacific Jazz, 1965)
• Feelin' Kinda Blues (Pacific Jazz, 1965)
• The Golden Sword (Pacific Jazz, 1966)
• Live and Swinging (Pacific Jazz, 1967)
• Everywhere (Pacific Jazz, 1968)
• California Soul (Pacific Jazz, 1968)
• Eternal Equinox (Pacific Jazz, 1969)
• Lomelin (Discovery, 1981)
• Jessica (Trend, 1982)
• Calafia (Trend, 1985)

With Jimmy Woods

• Conflict (Contemporary, 1963)