Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Billy Harper was born on January 17, 1943 in Houston, Texas and by the age of 5 was singing both choral and solo at secular and sacred events. By 14 while attending Worthing High School, he formed his first Billy Harper Quintet. Graduating cum laude he studied saxophone and music theory at North Texas State University and was a member of their big band, winning first prize at the 1965 Kansas Jazz Festival.

The Coltrane-influenced tenor moved to New York the next year and attracted the attention of more than a few jazz greats playing with Art Blakey for two years, then Elvin Jones, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, Max Roach, Randy Weston and Gil Evans into the Seventies. During this period he toured Africa, Europe, Japan and the U.S. with these groups as well as his own quintet.

His distinctive sound can be heard on an impressive list of recordings such as the 1973 seminal black consciousness album “Capra Black” that fused the avant-garde with gospel and his 1976 “Black Saint” that not only launched the Italian label of the same name but exploded Harper onto the international jazz scene. He has recorded more than twenty albums and has also worked with Bobbi Humphrey, Lee Morgan and McCoy Tyner and most of his later sessions have been on the Steeplechase and Evidence labels.

As an educator and lecturer he has taught at Livingston College, Rutgers University and The New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, has received numerous grants and awards and currently tours around the world.

More Posts: saxophone