Cornbread Harris at Palmer’s Bar (April 6, 2025)

Church of Cornbread Residency

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Cornbread’s 98th B-Day Party Extravaganza

There’s a million reasons to not go to a concert, but they can all fit broadly into two categories. The first, and by far larger bucket, is that it is inconvenient. It could be too expensive, difficult to get to, there might be too many openers, maybe it conflicts with other things you have to do. All perfectly legitimate reasons (it’s your time and money after all), but ultimately, it comes down to being inconvenient to attend. The much, much smaller bucket is that sometimes a concert is too convenient. The most likely culprit here is a performer who has a regular gig at a venue. Even if you are interested in the artist, any single performance can be written off and skipped because “there’s always next time”. I realized I was facing the fallacy of convenience with local legend Cornbread Harris, who, like every Sunday from 5-7 pm, performs with no cover at Palmer’s Bar, so I finally made the time to go and see him.

Harris, who has been part of rock bands, but mostly specializes in blues and jazz, has been part of the Twin Cities’ music scene for more than 70 years. He was part of The Augie Garcia Quintet, which had Minnesota’s first rock & roll record Hi Yo Silver, in 1955. He’s been the subject of a recent book, Deeper Blues: The Life Songs and Salvation of Cornbread Harris. And at 97 years old (turning 98 later this month!), he’s still doing his weekly show at Palmer’s. The venue is just a block south of The Cedar Cultural Center on the West Bank of the University of Minnesota and is one of the bars around town that has a strong and regular set of shows. It was included in the Star Tribune’s recent ratings of area music venues, which directly referenced Harris’ regular show in its write-up. (startribune.com).

Ahead of the show out front on the street, there was a sign stating: “No parking, Cornbread only”. It was obvious right away that most of the bar crowd was definitely regulars for Harris. Harris arrived and waited while warming his hands up with a coffee near the stage as the backing band (guitar, trumpet, drums and upright bass) got things set up at the small performance area up front. It was a prompt start, with Harris rolling right into his piano playing. Any signs of age were instantly erased as his fingers went to work, and it’s a joy to watch an expert ply their craft. The supporting band has definitely honed their sound around Harris. I was particularly impressed by the trumpet player’s ability to be loud enough to be heard while staying below the piano’s volume.

As the band continued to play steady blues and jazz-infused numbers, the bar filled up with a mix of regulars and even additional musicians, as a saxophone player arrived near the end of the second song (I’m glad I got there early enough to get a good seat.). This is a laid back, session band feel, and it definitely works. Harris would occasionally chime in with a few words or lyrics, but often he was communicating with the other band members. Harris has a great laugh and the band was well in synch, building up the energy in the next songs. Brass solos (trumpet first, saxophone second) transitioned seamlessly to the guitar, and then back to Harris on keys. The small dance floor was nearly completely full at this point, with a happy audience clearly enjoying the music. A swing like, high energy number followed and Harris continued to shine on piano.

It’s nearly unbelievable to me that this is a weekly ritual; I’m wildly impressed by Harris’ stamina, and his band is a perfect mix of instruments for the space. A “1, 2, you know what to do” was a perfect intro for a song with vocals by the upright bass player. We got a new vocalist for Pennies from Heaven (Eddy Duchin & His Orchestra cover) , and she C provided a change of pace. Amazingly, yet another musician (another saxophone) showed up, even as we were already coming up on intermission, and it reinforced the idea of a session set of players enjoying an evening together.

During intermission, as Harris riffed on the keys, I got a chance to talk with several of the musicians. When I asked the guitar player his thoughts about the idea of this being a session band, he nodded and said they don’t have rehearsals and it constantly evolves. He’s been with Harris for four years. He also said it’s been a bit of rediscovery for Harris because of the recent book, with lots of new people coming. He enjoys playing with Harris, who has “forgotten more than I will ever know”. The upright bass player described the group as “a regular crew and additional musicians” with some turnover, so it feels like it is always in transition but always with that core of one. Though when I asked how long he has been with Cornbread Harris, he said he’s been at it for over 30 years. The sax player has only been at it for a little over a year, but has known Harris for years and was neighbors with another band member and started sitting in and them and then was playing regularly. He stated that it’s a privilege to play with “this gentleman” and described the weekly events as almost therapeutic.

Our late arrival who joined right after the break was a soprano sax player (though he pulled out a different sax later), which added yet another layer to the music. Another vocalist, another musician (sax and flute, it just kept going for the two hour duration. The second half had a lot more of those brass solos, such as in Candy Man, penned by Harris, and it had the crowd dancing and Harris riffing right along. This is a show well worth seeing, and the crew around Harris was a great highlight of local talent. And they’ll continue to be at it each week, so I highly recommend finding a reason to make it convenient to get to Palmer’s one of these Sunday afternoons.