Billy Harper

For the English footballer, see Billy Harper (footballer).
Billy Harper

Billy Harper at the Jazz Standard, 2007
Background information
Born (1943-01-17) January 17, 1943
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Genres Jazz
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments Saxophone
Labels Black Saint, Strata-East, SteepleChase, Evidence
Associated acts The Cookers

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

Biography

In 1965 Harper earned a Bachelor of Music degree 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 (1968–70); 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 1970s.[1] He has also been a frequent member of Randy Weston's ensembles, and in 2013 they recorded their first album as a duo, entitled The Roots of the Blues.[3] Harper performed on Gil Evans' 1973 album Svengali, and contributed two of the most-performed tunes in the band's repertoire: "Priestess" and "Thoroughbred".

Harper's 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/co-leader

As sideman

With Art Blakey

With Charles Earland

With Gil Evans

With Sonny Fortune

With Bobbi Humphrey

With The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra

With Mark Masters Jazz Orchestra

With Grachan Moncur III

With Lee Morgan

With Max Roach

With Woody Shaw

With Malachi Thompson

With Charles Tolliver

With McCoy Tyner

With Randy Weston

References

  1. 1 2 Chris Kelsey, Billy Harper Biography, Allmusic.
  2. ↑ Office of Registrar & Alumni Records, University of North Texas, Denton
  3. ↑ "Randy Weston & Billy Harper on The Roots of the Blues", Open Sky Jazz, November 28, 2013.
  4. ↑ Jason Ankeny, Capra Black review, Allmusic.
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