Harrison Argatoff

Harrison Argatoff is a Canadian tenor saxophonist and composer based in Toronto. A 2018 graduate of The University of Toronto’s jazz program, he strives to present an original musical voice capable of imparting personality, diligence, and transparency. Having grown up a Doukhobor, in the interior of British Columbia, teachings of pacifism, communal music making, and respect for life and nature deeply influence his personal and artistic endeavors. Harrison’s music combines the study of free-improvised, jazz, and classical music.

“Somewhere between Bach, BL!NDMAN and Mark Turner.”
– Jazz Halo, by Georges Tonla Briquet

For for information about upcoming concerts, please visit my Facebook page

“39” – Studio Video

Ian McGimpsey and Harrison Argatoff are an acoustic guitar and tenor saxophone duo. Their music draws from both singer-songwriter and contemporary jazz idioms, and is the result of an intensely collaborative compositional process.

A pairing inspired primarily by Nick Drake and his album “Pink Moon”, McGimpsey and Argatoff focus on simplicity, honesty, and meaning. Their latest album, “Ontario 559 West“, is “a contemplative reminder of a life sadly lost, but also an unexpected pleasure, and from a most unusual source.” (JazzWeekly, by Simon Adams)

Teaching:

I enjoy teaching students of any skill level. I primarily teach saxophone technique, improvisation, and jazz music, but also offer information about theory, reading music, and composition. I offer 60-minutes for $60, 45-minutes for $45, and 30-minutes for $30. I also like to schedule a (free) 15-minute phone/zoom call to meet, talk, and discuss our goals in advance of our first lesson.

I teach online, or in-person in the St. Clair West area of Toronto. My teaching page, linked here, has more information about my experience and approach.

If you are interested, or have any questions, please be in touch via my contact page.

Testimonial:

“Harrison has provided outstanding education, insight and pearls of musical wisdom over the two tears I have taken him on as my private teacher. He is patient and understanding yet continually challenges me to be a better musician. Above all, Harrison is a very positive person with a love for music and teaching. Harrison has inspired me to the point that I enrolled in a fulltime music program in college. I continue to have twice weekly lessons with Harrison as he guides me through my journey in music.” -Irving, student for 2+ years

“At the age of 60, I had been playing for about 3 years, when I decided I wanted to improve playing Jazz music and aimed to be able to get a basic capacity to improvise on Jazz from the 1940’s to 1960’s. Over the past 2 years Harrison helped me greatly on all aspects of playing: embouchure, breathing, understanding of chord theory and structure, understanding and playing of scales, and listening to rhythm. I have achieved my initial basic objective, and continue to advance. Harrison is very knowledgeable, teaches in a very friendly, relaxed and interactive manner, and uses a helpful mixture of theory, exercises and practice songs. I should also mention that our lessons are on-line because we live more than 300 km apart, but this works well for me.” -Werner, student for 2+ years

Discs:

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