More Than Momentum 

Posted by Andre Harness

4/6/2026

Hello everyone,

It’s been a busy month. Busy in every sense, work, music, travel, and everything in between.

On the personal side, I just got back from a trip to Washington, D.C. with friends. Taryn and I love to travel, and getting to spend time in the nation’s capital was very cool. We didn’t quite catch the cherry blossoms at peak bloom, but we still got a glimpse, made it to the zoo to see the pandas, did plenty of sightseeing, caught a great comedy show, and even saw the Dodgers at Nationals baseball game. All in all, a great trip!

Me, Juliann, Taryn, and Christian outside of the Lincoln Memorial!

Me and Taryn at the Dodgers v. Nationals game!

Musically, it’s been an interesting balance. Practice hasn’t been consistent or frequent, and that’s something I’m actively working to correct. That said, performance-wise, things have been moving big time.

My baritone saxophone work has started to open doors. I had the opportunity to perform with the Symphony of Southeast Texas for their Aretha Franklin Pops concert, which was a blast and went really well, and recently played with Rickey Davis, “The Classic Gentleman,” at Doc’s in Houston.

Pic (taken from the top balcony) of me playing baritone saxophone with the Symphony of Southeast Texas!

The Doc’s performance (thumbnail for this blog post) meant a lot to me. It’s a venue I’ve had on my radar for a while, one of those rooms that feels like a step forward in my involvement with the jazz scene. Through connections in the Houston scene, the opportunity came together, and it lived up to everything I expected. Great room, great energy, and getting to share that moment with my mom and Taryn in the audience made it even more special. Its a residency, so we will be back there in May, which I’m really looking forward to.

The week before that gig, I stopped by Doc’s to check out the space and caught Chad Lefkowitz-Brown. Incredible musician, incredible presence. There was something unusual about the set though, he kept stepping off stage mid-tune. It threw me off a bit at the time. Later, I found out he was dealing with food poisoning and still pushed through the performance. Talk about "the show must go on" mentality! As an audience member, I have no idea!

Outside of performing, I had the chance to help a friend of mine, Levi, test out horns at The Saxophone Center in Houston. He ended up walking out with a tenor, which has been a long time coming for him. Seeing someone take that step into the instrument, especially into jazz, is always exciting. It pushed me to put together a short Instagram reel aimed at beginners, outlining how I would approach getting into jazz from scratch.
If that’s something you’re exploring, I’ll link it here.

Levi's new Yamaha 52 tenor saxophone!

On the creative side, I’ve been spending time transcribing and arranging for a Horace Silver quintet project I’m building. Even on the flight to D.C., I was writing, finishing up an arrangement of The Natives Are Restless Tonight. That makes four charts completed so far, and it feels like I’m starting to see the shape of a full set come together.

For a long time, my combo playing followed a pretty standard formula. Call a tune, work out a quick intro and ending, and let it ride. There’s nothing wrong with that, but over time it started to feel limiting. I found myself wanting something more intentional. This project is my way of pushing in that direction. Since I’m still developing as a composer, I decided to dig into the music of Horace Silver, someone who truly defined the quintet sound. The goal is to build a set that feels cohesive and performative, something that holds an audience’s attention from start to finish, not just background music. I’d love to bring this project to spaces like Doc’s, Emmit’s, POST, and other venues around Houston. There’s also an educational angle I want to explore, tracing Silver’s evolution through the music and sharing that with audiences in a way that’s engaging and accessible.

At the same time, I know I need to get back to the fundamentals in my own playing. That means more transcription, more time in all 12 keys, and more focused work on navigating changes. That’s the next step for me as an improviser, and it’s time to lock back in.

The other major thing on my mind right now is the future of the big band.

I’ve been seriously developing the idea of expanding beyond just the ensemble into a larger organization, Golden Triangle Jazz. The Golden Triangle Big Band would remain a core program, but the vision is bigger: youth ensembles, a network of clinicians, private instruction, expanded clinics, and eventually scholarships for students in the region.

We’ve already seen the impact that clinics and performances can have. Formalizing that work opens the door to deeper community engagement and access to funding that supports education at a more effective level. More resources mean more opportunities, and more opportunities mean a stronger pipeline for young musicians coming up in Southeast Texas. That’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time.

Potential Logo for the evolution of the nonprofit.