Few friendships -- much less bands -- last a lifetime, yet Pieces of a Dream band members Curtis Harmon and James Lloyd have been performing together since the mid-'70s.
Harmon’s father first planted seeds for what would become a long-running smooth jazz band.
“I’m a third-generation musician,” Harmon, 47, said. “My father would sit us down when we first started and he would have us listen to a lot of straight-ahead guys like Count Basie, Art Tatum and Milt Jackson. That was his biggest influence on us.”
On Sept. 18, Pieces of a Dream will close the Atlanta Smooth Jazz Festival at Mable House Barnes Amphitheatre in Mableton. The festival will open with saxophonist Paul Taylor at 8 p.m., Sept. 17, and continue with performances the following day. The lineup also includes guitarist Sekou Bunch, flutist Althea Rene, keyboardist Gregg Karukas and saxophonist Jessy J.
While the latter names may be less familiar, Pieces of a Dream has garnered attention. Last spring, the band was awarded a Canadian Smooth Jazz Award for favorite group by online voters.
In the late 1970s and early '80s, their shows – often performed with such vocalists as Phyllis Hyman or Angela Bofill, or their late mentor Grover Washington Jr. -- were popular draws at jazz festivals and on college campuses.
The name came from a tune by the late saxophonist Stanley Turrentine.
“My stepmother thought of it [the tune's name]. She thought we were three guys looking for a musical dream and we made up the pieces,” Harmon said.
The original "pieces" were Harmon, Lloyd and Cedric Napoleon, back in middle school in Philadelphia, Pa., where school staff and Curtis' father, Danny Harmon -- who volunteered as an assistant teacher -- had created a 21-piece student jazz band.
Curtis Harmon was fast-becoming a master drummer. Lloyd could play a piano tune after hearing it once. And unbeknownst to many, Napoleon had a talent for the bass. (Napoleon left the band about 10 years ago, replaced by bassist David Dyson.)
“Cedric wanted to play basketball because he was tall,” said Danny Harmon, 65. “He was the only one that we could get to play an upright bass, because everyone else was short. We didn’t know [until he played] that he had a great talent because no one else in his family played an instrument.”
The young musicians had an unmistakable chemistry that made headlines after they shared the stage with jazz greats at music festivals.
Saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. officially launched their careers, producing their first three albums.
“We called him our musical dad,” Curtis Harmon said. “We met him when we did a local television show called ‘City Lights.' I was about 16. He was a guest and was going to use his tracks to back him on his songs. But then he heard us play and said he wanted us to perform with him.”
The group’s staying power has not been an accident, Harmon said.
“Groups come and go overnight. We were able to do what we’ve done because adults took the time to give us attention and nurture and develop us,” Curtis Harmon said.
Concert preview
Atlanta Smooth Jazz Festival opens with saxophonist Paul Taylor at 8 p.m. Sept. 17 and closes with Pieces of a Dream at 8 p.m. on Sept. 18. $21-$61; VIP tables to $328. Mable House Barnes Amphitheatre, 5239 Floyd Road, Mableton. 770-819-7765, www.mablehouse.org
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