Debbie Harry’s lesser-known jazz side project
With a truly unforgettable image and the voice to match it, Debbie Harry is perhaps one of the greatest frontwomen of all time. In addition to her stunning performances with New York new wave giants Blondie, Harry was also noted for her work as an actor and her short-lived solo career away from Blondie. The Miami-born songwriter is remembered for many things, but her work fronting free-jazz group The Jazz Passengers has often flown under the radar.
Rising out of the pits of the East Side punk scene surrounding the legendary CBGB club, Blondie quickly transcended their raw punk roots to become a mainstay of the singles charts. Finding success with their punk attitude and pop sensibilities, Debbie Harry’s band have been impressing audiences for decades.
Penning hits like ‘One Way or Another’ and ‘Heart of Glass’, Blondie are far too often remembered exclusively for their new wave tracks. In actuality, Harry’s group were much more open to experimentation than their biggest hits give them credit for. From performing tracks about obscure voodoo deities to being among the first rock groups to incorporate the influence of early hip-hop, Blondie were a truly pioneering force within the new wave scene.
Testament to Harry’s dedication to exploring as many influences as possible, the frontwoman has been an occasional singer for jazz collective The Jazz Passengers since the mid-1990s. The group, formed by saxophonist Roy Nathanson in the late 1980s, is best remembered for its collaborative efforts. On their defining release, 1994’s In Love, the avant-garde experts recruited the likes of Mavis Staples, Jimmy Scott, Jeff Buckley and, of course, Debbie Harry to perform on various tracks across the record.
Such was her appreciation for the group that Harry went on to collaborate with The Jazz Passengers on a regular basis, even touring with the group occasionally. Though her commitments to Blondie, who reformed in 1997 and continue to tour to this day, prevented her from becoming a full-time member of the group, her influence over their music forms some of the most beloved aspects of their discography.
On the album Individually Twisted, Harry can be heard dueting with fellow new wave legend Elvis Costello,= on the track ‘Doncha Go ‘Way Mad’. Across all the material she has recorded with the Jazz Passengers, it is stunning to hear her characteristic vocals stripped away from all the new wave and pop excess which surrounds it on many Blondie records. A lot has been said, particularly in the early days of her band, about the lacklustre vocal quality of Harry, but tracks like ‘Doncha Go ‘Way Mad’ are hard evidence of her incredible and diverse talent.
The Jazz Passengers have continued to tour and record sporadically, with their latest album coming in the form of 2017’s Still Life With Trouble. Although Harry does not feature on the album due to being preoccupied with Blondie, her collaborations with the group remain some of The Jazz Passenger’s defining moments.
