"Pour moi, le blues est l'esquisse de base. Vous pouvez utiliser cette esquisse pour faire la maison que vous voulez".
Corey Harris

La vie et la musique de Corey Harris embrassent l'expérience noire dans toutes ses dimensions. Il grandit en écoutant le gospel, funk, Motown, jazz, reggae et Rhythm'n'Blues, et au moment où il déménage à la Nouvelle Orléans, il est déjà un fin connaisseur de musique africaine.

"J'ai écouté le reggae avant d'écouter le blues" dit Harris, "et j'ai écouté Wes Montgomery avant Muddy Waters".
Rôle principal en 2003, dans le film de Martin Scorsese "Du Mississippi au Mali ", il y visite Niafunke, la ville natale saharienne de Ali Farka Touré, musicien Malian reconnu mondialement comme le roi du blues africain. Il y retourne plus tard pour enregistrer son album "From Mississippi to Mali".

Son dernier album reggae "Zion Crossroads", nous fait preuve que son voyage lui amène dans les paysages musicaux de plus en plus riches.

"To me, the blues is the blueprint. You can go from that blueprint and build whatever house you want. "

Corey Harris has led the life of a musical explorer, traveling and listening all over the world. He’s performed at many of the world’s most well-known venues, including the Montreux Jazz Festival, London’s Royal Albert Hall, New York’s Lincoln Center, Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center, Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium and Tennessee’s Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. As the star of Martin Scorsese’s segment of the PBS series, The Blues, Corey traveled to Mali to play with Ali Farka Toure, a voyage he repeated for his album of field recordings called Mississippi to Mali, in which he explored the connections between African music and the blues.

Born in Denver, Colorado in 1969, Corey Harris made two extended trips to Cameroon after graduating from college. He came home from West Africa determined to make his way as a musician, while he taught French at a rural Louisiana middle school. In the decade between 1995 and 2005, Corey released a string of critically acclaimed albums which firmly established this young lion as the most versatile blues and roots artist of his time. He has toured in Guinea and Mali, West Africa, as well as South America, the Caribbean, Europe, Japan, New Zealand and Australia. Most recently, Corey has released Zion Crossroads (Telarc, 2007), a celebration of roots reggae, Ras Tafari, Ethiopia, and the African continent. “…one of the most vibrant reggae albums to be released this year.” - Global Rhythm

“The CD is laced with messages and conscious lyrics that would thrill a lover of true reggae/roots and culture music. It’s really a celebration of the ‘overstanding’ of this journey we call life.” - Carib News