Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Everette Harp was born August 17, 1961 in Houston, Texas and was the youngest of eight children. His mother played the organ and gospel music was one of his earliest influences. He started playing jazz in middle school at Marshall Junior High under the tutelage of drummer Buddy Smith. He attended the High School for Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, then North Texas State University as a music major in the early 1980s.

He worked as an accountant for a short time, and played in local bands, most notably a jazz/funk group called The Franchise which released a 1987 album locally with the first recording of Harp’s There’s Still Hope. 1988 saw him moving to Los Angeles, California and touring briefly with Teena Marie, then Anita Baker.

Two years later George Duke signed him to a contract with Capitol Records to record with his group 101 North. Bruce Lundvall of Blue Note Records signed Harp to a solo contract before the group album was released. Harp’s album was produced by Duke and released by Blue Note in 1992.

Harp appeared at the Montreux Jazz Festival, would go on to appear on The Arsenio Hall Show, on Sax by the Fire, and perform on the theme songs for Entertainment Tonight and Soul Train and shared the stage with President Bill Clinton at the Arkansas Ball in 1992.

Harp has worked with Stanley Clarke, Natalie Cole, Neil Diamond, Aretha Franklin, Wayne Henderson, Al Jarreau, The Jazz Crusaders, Billy Joel, Chaka Khan, Kenny Loggins, Bobby Lyle, Peter Maffay, Marcus Miller, Chante Moore, Dianne Reeves, Eros Ramazzotti, Brenda Russell, Joe Sample, and Luther Vandross.

Saxophonist Everette Harp, who received his first nomination in 2015 for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, continues to perform, compose and record.

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