Last heard at Outpost during the spring 2019 season with his Free Country project, guitarist, composer, arranger, lyricist, vocalist and songwriter Joel Harrison returns to New Mexico with his quartet featuring pianist Gary Versace; saxophonist Greg Tardy and drummer E.J. Strickland, on the heels of their July 2023 release (Harrison’s 25th CD), Anthems of Unity.  The CD, which also features legendary drummer Jack DeJohnette, is a program of six Harrison originals as well as Sonny Rollins’ “Doxy,” and Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin” and was described by TheVinylGrooveRecords.com as “a blowing session, at times tender and at times volcanic, whose interplay and organic, visceral power is palpable from the first to last tune.” One of the first artists to bridge the worlds of jazz, classical, Americana, and traditions from India and Africa, Harrison is long recognized as a risk taker. Founded on jazz, his surprising body of work seamlessly connects multiple American traditions, veering into classical, rock, country, and American roots music and his twenty-two releases as a leader showcase his prowess as “a shapeshifting composer.” The New Orleans Times-Picayune writes, “Harrison has created a new blueprint for jazz.”  His compositions include works for orchestra, string quartet, solo cello, and percussion, as well as an award-winning solo marimba piece, Fear of Silence and he is also an active film composer, having worked on the Oscar-nominated Traffic Stop and the Sundance awardee Southern Comfort. A Guggenheim Fellow (2010) whose compositions have been commissioned by Chamber Music America, Meet the Composer, New Music USA, the Jerome Foundation, and others, Harrison is also the founder and director of the Alternative Guitar Summit, a yearly festival devoted to new and unusual guitar music which was called “one of the most interesting and distinguished forums for guitar on the planet.”