Billy Harper

Billy Harper (2007)

Billy Harper (* 17th January 1943 in Houston , Texas ) is an American jazz - saxophonist , band leader and music teacher .

Live and act

Harper's childhood was shaped by life in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and its music. At the age of fourteen he formed his first jazz quintet as a student at Evan E. Worthing High School . He studied jazz at North Texas State University from 1961–65 and moved to New York City after graduating in 1966 . There he soon caught the attention of jazz greats such as Max Roach , Thad Jones , Mel Lewis and Lee Morgan . Gil Evans engaged him in 1967 for his big band, in which he a. a. contributed to Evans' album Svengali ; Art Blakey won him over as a member of the Jazz Messengers, which he directed .

With these bands and his own quintet with tenor saxophone , trumpet and rhythm section , with whom he played music in the tradition of John Coltrane , he toured the United States, Europe, Japan and Africa. The album Black Saint brought its big international breakthrough in 1976 , it was named Jazz Record of the Year - Voice Grand Prix by the Modern Jazz League of Tokyo .

Harper continues to perform internationally: the young Polish trumpeter Piotr Wojtasik met him at the Jazz Jamboree in Warsaw , who later became a member of his band. In 2000 he gave a concert in the Gewandhaus in Leipzig . Harper also teaches improvisation at several high schools and teaches at Livingston College and Rutgers University . Since 2007 he has been working with the all-star formation The Cookers .

Discographic notes

• Capra Black ( Strata-East Records , 1973) with Julian Priester , Billy Cobham
• Black Saint ( Black Saint , 1975) with Virgil Jones , Joe Bonner , David Friesen , Malcolm Pinson
• In Europe ( Soul Note , 1979) with Everett Hollins , Fred Hersch , Louis Spears , Horace Arnold
• Soran-Bushi, BH (Denon, 1977) with Greg Maker, Billy Hart , Horacee Arnold, Harold Mabern , Everett Hollins
• Trying to Make Heaven My Home ( MPS , 1979)
• Knowledge Of Self ( Denon , 1979)
• The Believer (Baystate, 1980) with Armen Donelian , Everett Hollins
• Destiny Is Yours ( SteepleChase Records , 1989) with Eddie Henderson , Francesca Tanksley , Clarence Seay , Newman Taylor Baker
• Live on Tour in the Far East, Vols. 1-3 (SteepleChase, 1991) with Eddie Henderson, Francesca Tanksley, Louis Spears, Newman Taylor Baker
• Jon & Billy (Storyville, 1992) with Jon Faddis , George Mraz , Motohiko Hino , Cecil Bridgewater , Roland Hanna
• Somalia (Evidence 1993) with Eddie Henderson, Francesca Tanksley, Louie Spears, Newman Taylor Baker, Horace Arnold
• If Out Hearts Could Only See ( DIW Records , 1998) with Francesca Tanskley, Clarence Seay, Newman Taylor Baker, Eddie Henderson
• Soul of an Angel (Metropolitan Records, 2000) with Eddie Henderson , Francesca Tanksley , Clarence Seay, Newman Taylor Baker
• The Roots of the Blues (Universal Music France, 2013) with Randy Weston

Lexical entries

• Carlo Bohländer , Karl Heinz Holler, Christian Pfarr: Reclam's Jazz Guide . 5th, revised and supplemented edition. Reclam, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-15-010464-5 .
• Ian Carr , Brian Priestley , Digby Fairweather (Eds.): Rough Guide Jazz. ISBN 1-85828-137-7 .
• Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide of Jazz on CD . 6th edition. Penguin, London 2002, ISBN 0-14-051521-6 .
• Leonard Feather , Ira Gitler : The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-19-532000-X .
• Martin Kunzler : Jazz Lexicon. Volume 1: A – L (= rororo-Sachbuch. Vol. 16512). 2nd Edition. Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-499-16512-0 .

Web links

• Web presence
• Billy Harper at Allmusic (English)
• Billy Harper at Discogs (English)