Billy Harper

Billy Harper

Billy Harper performing at the Jazz Standard in 2007.
Background information
Instruments Saxophone
Labels Black Saint, Strata-East, SteepleChase, Evidence

Billy Harper (born January 17, 1943 in Houston, Texas) is a Jazz saxophonist, "one of a generation of Coltrane-influenced tenor saxophonists" with a distinctively stern, hard-as-nails sound on his instrument.[1]

Contents

Biography

In 1965 Harper earned a Bachelor of Music from the University of North Texas.[2]

Harper has played with some of jazz's greatest drummers; he served with Art Blakey's Messengers for two years (1968–1970); he played very briefly with Elvin Jones (1970), he played with the Thad Jones/ Mel Lewis Orchestra in the 1970s, and was a member of Max Roach's band in the late '70s.[3] He has also been a frequent member of Randy Weston's ensembles. He performed on Gil Evans' 1973 album Svengali, and contributed two of the most-performed tunes in the band's repertoire: "Priestess" and "Thoroughbred".

His 1973 album Capra Black "remains one of the seminal recordings of jazz's black consciousness movement--a profoundly spiritual effort that channels both the intellectual complexity of the avant garde as well as the emotional potency of gospel".[4] The Italian jazz label Black Saint was launched with Harper's 1975 album Black Saint. His later releases have mostly been on SteepleChase and Evidence.

Discography

As leader

As sideman

With Gil Evans

With Bobbi Humphrey

With Lee Morgan

With McCoy Tyner

References

  1. ^ allmusic ((( Billy Harper > Biography )))
  2. ^ Office of Registrar & Alumni Records, University of North Texas, Denton
  3. ^ allmusic ((( Billy Harper > Biography )))
  4. ^ allmusic ((( Capra Black > Overview )))