Harrison Napoleon Bankhead III (March 1, 1955 – April 5, 2023) was an American jazz double-bassist.

Life and career

Bankhead became associated with the Chicago jazz scene in the early-1980s. Early in his career, he performed with Fred Anderson on tour and at Anderson's Chicago club, the Velvet Lounge. Bankhead has worked with Oliver Lake, Roscoe Mitchell, Von Freeman, Malachi Thompson, 8 Bold Souls, and Hamid Drake, and was a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. His first album as a leader, Morning Sun/Harvest Moon, was released on Engine, a sub-label of ESP-Disk, in 2011, and featured sidemen Edward Wilkerson, Jr., Mars Williams, James Sanders, Avreeayl Ra, and Ernie Adams. He followed this with Velvet Blue, with Wilkerson, Williams, and Ra, whose name and title track pay tribute to Fred Anderson and the Velvet Lounge.

Bankhead died on April 5, 2023, at the age of 68.

Discography

As leader

With Malachi Thompson

With 8 Bold Souls

With Dee Alexander

With others