Joseph Allison Harris (1926–2016) was a big band and bebop jazz drummer.Mattingly, Rick (1998). The Drummer's Time: Conversations with the Great Drummers of Jazz, p. 43. Modern Drummer Publications. ISBN 9780634001468, 0634001469. Google Books. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
Born in Pittsburgh, on 23 December 1926, he moved to New York City in 1946 and played in the house band at the Apollo Theater before going on to play with Dizzy Gillespie.O'Driscoll, Bill (2009). "The life of Pittsburgh-born jazz drummer Joe Harris gets a workout in Kuntu Repertory's Clean Drums". January 22. Pittsburgh City Paper. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
In January 1949, he stepped in for Max Roach, who was rehearsing with Miles Davis on some of the Charlie Parker recordings at the Royal Roost.Koch, Lawrence O. (1988). Yardbird Suite: A Compendium of the Music and Life of Charlie Parker, pp. 146–151. ISBN 9780879722593, 0879722592. Google Books. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
Having moved to Sweden in 1956, Harris stepped in for Pete La Roca in Sonny Rollins's trio for some dates in Stockholm,Levy, Aidan (2022). Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins, p. 65, footnote 44. Hachette Books. ISBN 9780306902826, 0306902826. Google Books. Retrieved 7 May 2023. and worked with Rolf Ericson.
In 1960, Harris joined Quincy Jones's big band that included Clark Terry, Les Spann, Melba Liston, Buddy Catlett, Åke Persson, Sahib Shihab, Phil Woods, and Budd Johnson for the Free and Easy tour of Europe.Henry, Clarence Bernard (2013). Quincy Jones: His Life in Music, pp. 37–38. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781617038624, 1617038628. Google Books. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
He then went to live in Germany, where he played timpani for the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band from 1961 to 1966.Feather, Leonard; Ira Gitler (1999). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz, p. 298. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0199729077, 9780199729074. Google Books. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
Harris died on 27 January 2016.
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