Billy Harper -

Billy Harper (born Jan. 17, 1943) is an American post-bop tenor saxophonist and composer from Houston who emerged with Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Max Roach, and the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, then recorded Capra Black, Black Saint, and a series of leader albums for Denon.

Background

Billy Harper was born Jan. 17, 1943, in Houston, Texas. He sang church solos from age five at the Houston congregation led by his grandfather. His uncle Earl Harper, a former trumpeter who attended school with Kenny Dorham, introduced him to jazz records and guided his early saxophone study. Harper received a saxophone for Christmas at age 11 and initially taught himself the instrument. At Evan E. Worthing High School, he formed the first Billy Harper Quintet at age 14 and played in Houston rhythm-and-blues bands.

Harper entered North Texas State University in Denton in 1961 to study saxophone and music theory. He advanced through the Four, Three, and Two O’Clock Lab Bands, then joined the One O’Clock Lab Band in 1964 under Leon Breeden. Harper became the first Black performer in the One O’Clock ensemble. On Sunday afternoons, he traveled to Dallas to sit in with tenor saxophonist James Clay and other professional jazz musicians. Harper earned a Bachelor of Music degree in 1965 and continued graduate studies at North Texas State University.

Harper moved to New York in 1966 to pursue work among musicians he knew through jazz records. NBC selected him as the musician featured on television special The Big Apple, and Harper chose drummer Elvin Jones, bassist Reggie Workman, pianist McCoy Tyner, and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard for the ensemble. He began a long association with arranger Gil Evans in 1967 through the Gil Evans Orchestra.

Harper joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in 1968 and remained through a two-year tenure with the group. The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra recorded Harper on tenor saxophone and flute at the 1970 Consummation sessions at A&R Studios. Max Roach added Harper to the ensemble for April 1971 sessions that produced Lift Every Voice and Sing. Lee Morgan recruited Harper for his final group, which recorded Harper compositions “Capra Black” and “Croquet Ballet” at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Harper led a self-produced Strata-East session in 1973 that became his debut album, Capra Black.

Discography:

Capra Black (1973)
Jon & Billy (1974 • Billy Harper & Jon Faddis)
Black Saint (1975)
Love on the Sudan (1977 • Billy Harper Quintet)
Soran-Bushi B.H. (1978)
In Europe (1979)
Knowledge of Self (1979)
Trying to Make Heaven My Home (1979)
The Awakening (1979 • Billy Harper Quintet)
The Believer (1980)
Billy Harper Quintet (1981)
Such Great Friends (1983 • Stanley Cowell, Billy Harper, Reggie Workman & Billy Hart)
Destiny Is Yours (1990 • Billy Harper Quintet)