Gavin Richard Harrison is an English musician. He is best known for playing with the progressive rock bands Porcupine Tree and King Crimson. Harrison's drumming has received many awards from music publications and earned praise from other musicians.
Career
Harrison started to work professionally in 1979. In 1983–84 he toured as a member of Renaissance. He worked as a freelance session drummer on records and tours for the following artists: Incognito, Lisa Stansfield, Lewis Taylor, Artful Dodger, Paul Young, Iggy Pop, Level 42, Porcupine Tree, OSI, King Crimson, Shooter, Dizrhythmia, The Kings Of Oblivion, Sam Brown, Tom Robinson, Go West, Black, Gail Ann Dorsey, B J Cole, Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin, Nathan East, Yasuaki Shimizu, Camouflage, Kevin Ayers, Claudio Baglioni, Franco Battiato, Chizuko Yoshihiro, Jakko, Richard Barbieri, Mick Karn, Eros Ramazzotti, Devogue. In 2002 he joined Porcupine Tree. In 2007 Harrison began a long term collaboration with singer/extended range bass player 05Ric, which led to the release of three CDs, Drop, Circles and The Man Who Sold Himself. In 2008, Harrison joined King Crimson as part of a dual-drummer line-up with Pat Mastelotto. He played a number of shows in the United States in August with the band. On 23 August 2011 he was a featured performer on the 'Late Show with David Letterman' as part of their second "Drum Solo Week", along with such players as Stewart Copeland, Neil Peart, and Dennis Chambers. As of September 2014, Harrison plays live in the new formation of King Crimson, as one of the three drummers. In January 2017 he was guest drummer with The Pineapple Thief for European tour in support of their album Your Wilderness. ”We’re so excited that we have made it happen. It’s a real once in a lifetime event", said their leader Bruce Soord. In August 2018, just prior to the release of The Pineapple Thief's 12th studio album Dissolution, the band announced that Harrison officially joined the band as a full member.
Influences and awards
Harrison was influenced by his father's jazz collection and by drummers such as Steve Gadd and Jeff Porcaro. Harrison won the Modern Drummer readers' poll for "best progressive drummer of the year" consecutively from 2007–2010 and again in 2016 and 2019. He won "Best Prog Drummer" in DRUM USA magazine 2011. Prog voted him best drummer in 2011, 2012, 2018 and 2019. He is the featured cover story on Modern Drummer January 2009 and February 2015. Rolling Stone polls rate him as the third best drummer in the past 25 years. In 2014, Modern Drummer magazine placed Harrison in the "Top 50 Greatest Drummers of All Time".
Harrison authored two instructional drum books entitled Rhythmic Illusions and Rhythmic Perspectives. He also wrote and produced his own instructional DVDs, Rhythmic Visions and Rhythmic Horizons, at his home studio. 2010 saw the release of Rhythmic Designs, a book of transcriptions by Terry Branam, and a 3-hour DVD of Gavin's explanations and demonstrations. It won 'Best in Show' at the summer NAMM show in the USA. 2014 sees the release of Rhythmic Compositions a book of 20 detailed drum transcriptions of recorded Porcupine Tree performances – plus photos and stories of the recording and creative process.
