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Billy Harper

In his early recordings and performances with leaders such as Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Max Roach, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, Randy Weston and Gil Evans, during the 60s and 70s, Billy Harper already had a massive sound on the tenor saxophone, combining John Coltrane’s spiraling intensity with a bluesy brawn that pointed back to his Texas origins.

Harper’s authority has only grown with age: a half-century on, he stands as one of the most commanding horn men on the planet, a pillar of stirring post-bop jazz whose robust back catalog seems long overdue for rediscovery.

For half a century he has been performing his original music with the renowned Billy Harper Quintet all over the globe, and recording over a dozen albums as a leader and prolific composer.

After a pandemic induced hiatus, the Quintet sprang back into action, beginning in 2023 with a series of #CapraBlackIsBack performances, that marked a year-long celebration of Billy Harper's 80th birthday. Along with this milestone, an additional cause for celebration was the 50th anniversary of the Billy Harper Quintet's official inception and the release of the group's historic debut album, Capra Black, the impact of which still lingers among jazz listeners worldwide.

Francesca Tanksley has been the pianist in this group for more than 40 years – a clear attestation of the wide ranging concensus that her extraordinary musicality cannot be matched nor replaced when it comes to Billy Harper’s opus.

Renowned master drummer Aaron Scott, a longtime member of McCoy Tyner’s band, has also performed with the group for decades. A rare find among jazz drummers, Scott meets and surpasses the challenge of doing Harper’s music justice.

Freddie Hendrix, one of the most in-demand jazz trumpeters of today, coveted for his uniquely soulful and exciting improvisations is also a longstanding member.

Finally, a more recently but nevertheless perfectly matched addition to the group is the award-winning bassist Dezron Douglas, whose artistry on the acoustic bass brings Harper’s compositions to a whole new level.

Mark Masters Ensemble: Sam Rivers 100

Read "Sam Rivers 100" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
May 26, 2025

The Mark Masters Ensemble released Porgy and Bess Redefined! (Capri Records) in 2005. The music was taken from the George Gershwin/DuBose Heyward English-language opera, which was first performed in 1935. Masters' take on the classic was brilliantly expressed by the ensemble, who dug into his adventurous charts with freedom mixed with respect for the familiar and often-covered (most notably by the Miles Davis/Gil Evans teaming) original. It was a breakout effort for Masters. Billy Harper was there on tenor sax, ...

Album Review

Mark Masters Ensemble: Dance, Eternal Spirits, Dance!

Read "Dance, Eternal Spirits, Dance!" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
May 24, 2025

In 2023-24, the celebrated arranger Mark Masters led his superb southern California-based ensemble into studios to record a pair of tribute albums. The first, Sam Rivers 100, was dedicated to the music of the late saxophonist on the one hundredth anniversary of his birth; the second, Dance, Eternal Spirits, Dance!, to that of another renowned saxophonist, Billy Harper, who is not only very much alive at age eighty-two but serves as guest soloist on both recordings. Unlike ...

Album Review

Mark Masters: Sam Rivers 100

Read "Sam Rivers 100" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
May 23, 2025

Sam Rivers 100 is the first of two homages recorded in 2023-24 by arranger Mark Masters and his blue chip southern California-based ensemble. This one pays tribute to the music of the late saxophonist Sam Rivers on the hundredth anniversary of his birth; the second, Dance, Eternal Spirits, Dance! salutes the music of tenor saxophonist Billy Harper who is the ensemble's guest soloist on both albums. Rivers, who died in December 2011, was an early bebopper who ...

Radio & Podcasts

Jazz from the Black Saint Label (1975 - 1989)

by Russell Perry
June 9, 2020

Ironically, the record label that most consistently offered an outlet for the American jazz avant-garde in the 1980s was the Italian Black Saint / Soul Note imprint. On All About Jazz, Jeff Stockton wrote, ..."from 1984 to 1989 Black Saint won the Down Beat critics poll for “Best Label" and “Best Producer" and established itself as the Blue Note of its time, a label whose mark and reputation alone assured the listener that the music would be adventurous, exciting jazz ...

Interview

Billy Harper: A Life of Persistence and Improvisation

by R.J. DeLuke
November 19, 2014

On stage, Billy Harper puts his lips to the tenor saxophone, stands relatively erect and sings through his horn; a strong, angular, muscular sound. There little physical gesticulation, belying the effort it takes to express feelings and emotions through the instrument. But Harper's creative statements demand attention. Over the last few years, a lot of that energy is expressed on stage with the Cookers, a star-studded septet that has been burning up the scene, gaining fans and critical ...

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Album Review

The Cookers: Cast the First Stone

Read "Cast the First Stone" reviewed by Troy Collins

by Troy Collins
May 17, 2011

Cast the First Stone is the sophomore follow-up to Warriors (Jazz Legacy Productions, 2010), the debut recording of the all-star ensemble The Cookers, whose name was inspired by the 1965 Blue Note live album series Night of the Cookers. Lending credence to its namesake, this powerhouse septet swings mightily through a series of post-bop originals and a sole cover, bolstered by the presence of special guest, acclaimed saxophonist Azar Lawrence, whose recent resurgence has found the renowned firebrand in riveting ...

433

Album Review

Billy Harper: Blueprints of Jazz, Vol. 2

Read "Blueprints of Jazz, Vol. 2" reviewed by George Kanzler

by George Kanzler
December 13, 2009

Tenor saxophonist Billy Harper has been keeping the jazz fires kindled by the ritualistic, incantatory side of the classic John Coltrane Quartet stoked and burning bright for over a quarter-century. Here Harper's working quintet, augmented by a second bassist, presents a program redolent of the processional and the chant. Over it all, Harper's coruscating, brawny tenor strides like a colossus (only Sonny Rollins may have a richer, fuller tone) with a charged intensity matching the roiling, loping, massed rhythms of ...

Performance / Tour

World-Renowned Smoke Jazz Club Kickstarts The New Year Celebrating Two Jazz Giants’ Birthdays: Billy Harper And Al Foster

Source: AMT Public Relations
December 6, 2023

Rated the #1 jazz club in New York City (Secret NYC), SMOKE Jazz Club begins 2024 with an exciting line-up in January. The month begins with two piano greats: Bill Charlap leading his longtime Trio (Jan 3-7) followed by renowned pianist/composer Billy Childs and his Quartet (Jan 11-14). SMOKE is honored to host two octogenarians celebrating their 81st birthdays in back-to-back concert celebrations: tenor saxophone giant Billy Harper leads his Quintet (Jan 18-21) then drumming master Al Foster is at ...
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Performance / Tour

World-Renowned SMOKE Jazz Club Begins The New Year With 80th Birthday Celebrations For Billy Harper And Al Foster, The 10th Annual Coltrane Festival, And More

Source: AMT Public Relations
December 10, 2022

January 2023 Schedule Sunday, January 1 Coltrane Festival featuring Jeremy Pelt with the Eric Reed / Vincent Herring Quintet Jeremy Pelt: trumpet Vincent Herring: alto & tenor saxophone Eric Reed: piano John Webber: bass Joe Farnsworth: drums SMOKE’s 10th annual Coltrane Festival continues with featured guest trumpeter Jeremy Pelt joining the Eric Reed/Vincent Herring Quintet. JazzTimes says, “Pelt is a technical marvel. He executes intricate solos with ease, plays gorgeous ballads in a tasteful manner, ...
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Performance / Tour

Strata-East At 50! June 16th With Narrator Danny Glover, Charles Tolliver, Billy Harper, George Cables, Buster Williams, Lenny White & Special Guests!

Source: Scott Thompson Public Relations
May 26, 2021

Strata-East Records celebrate 50 years of amazing Jazz on June 16th at 7:30pm EDT. Price: $20. Day of show $25. The performance will be available on-demand for 48 hours starting June 17th at 12:00 AM EDT. Strata-East @ 50 featuring Charles Tolliver, Billy Harper, George Cables, Buster Williams, Lenny White and special guest Danny Glover! Strata-East Records, now in its 50th year, was created by Charles Tolliver & Stanley Cowell. Their first recording in 1970, “Music Inc" & Big Band, ...
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Performance / Tour

Randy Weston & Billy Harper Highlights In Jazz Thursday, June 11th 8pm @ Tribeca Performing Arts

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
June 11, 2015

Jack Kleinsinger’s Highlights In Jazz, New York’s longest running jazz concert series, concludes its 43rd season on Thursday June 11, 2015 at 8:00 PM in the Tribeca Performing Arts Center at Borough of Manhattan Community College, 199 Chambers Street, NY, 10007 with Jazz Past & Present, a multigenerational double bill featuring the incomparable duo of, pianist Randy Weston and tenor saxophonist Billy Harper, performing a program including selections from their critically acclaimed album The Roots of the Blues. Sharing the ...
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Performance / Tour

Randy Weston & Billy Harper Appearing At Highlights In Jazz

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
May 14, 2015

Jack Kleinsinger’s Highlights In Jazz—New York’s Longest Running Jazz Concert Series—concludes its 43rd Season with Jazz, Past & Present, a historic double bill featuring NEA Jazz Master Randy Weston with Billy Harper performing The Roots of the Blues and Highlights In Jazz New Stars Benny Benack, Steven Frieder, Dylan Meek, Devin Starks & Kosta Galanopoulos plus a very special surprise guest. Thursday, June 11, 2015 at 8 pm at Tribeca Performing Arts Center of Borough of Manhattan Community College, 199 ...
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Performance / Tour

Billy Harper Quintet to appear at Montgomery County Community College (Bluebell, PA) on October 15

Source: Helen Haynes
October 3, 2011

Blue Bell, PA: Montgomery County Community College's Lively Arts Series will present the Billy Harper Quintet, Saturday, October 15, 2011 at 8PM at Science Center Theatre. Billy Harper is one of a generation of Coltrane-influenced tenor saxophonists who actually built upon the master's work, rather than simply copy it. His 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 ...
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Radio

The Jazz Session #265: Billy Harper

Source: AAJ Staff
May 10, 2011

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Contest

Announcing the Winners of the Talking House Records "Blueprints of Jazz, Vol. 1-3" Giveaway!

Source: All About Jazz
May 1, 2009

153

Recording

Billy Harper:Blueprints of Jazz Vol. 2

Source: JamBase
April 23, 2009

By: Trevor Pour

Talking House Records' second installment of the Blueprints of Jazz series features distinguished tenor saxophonist Billy Harper, an artist who draws a great deal of his stylistic influence from the evolving works of John Coltrane and from his own frequent collaborations with partner Art Blakey. Harper has remained an active composer and performer since his introduction to the bebop/jazz scene in the late 1960s, specifically contributing to the advancement of free jazz and jazz/rock during his time ...
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Contest

Enter the Talking House Records "Blueprints of Jazz, Vol. 1-3" Giveaway Contest

Source: All About Jazz
March 29, 2009

All About Jazz members are invited to enter the Talking House Records “Blueprints of Jazz, Vol. 1-3“ giveaway contest starting today. We'll select FIVE winners at the conclusion of the contest on April 26th. Click here to enter the contest

(Following Billy Harper at AAJ automatically enters you in the contest.)

Good luck! Your Friends at Talking House Records

Mike Clark - Blueprints of Jazz, Vol. 1 Mike Clark made his mark on the jazz scene ...
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Harper’s authority has only grown with age: a half-century on, he stands as one of the most commanding horn men on the planet, a pillar of stirring post-bop jazz whose robust back catalog seems long overdue for rediscovery.
– THE NEW YORK TIMES

A luminary figure in post-bop

–THE NEW YORK TIMES

He is a soul of sensitivity and intelligence, as well as of explosive, majestic passion.

– SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

The soulfulness, joy, and mourning one can hear in his solos come as much from doxology as the prominent artists he has worked with during his career. The connection to the gospel music of his youth continues to guide his music…

A luminary figure in post-bop

–THE NEW YORK TIMES

He is a soul of sensitivity and intelligence, as well as of explosive, majestic passion.

– SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

The soulfulness, joy, and mourning one can hear in his solos come as much from doxology as the prominent artists he has worked with during his career. The connection to the gospel music of his youth continues to guide his music…

– POSTGENRE

Harper's creative statements demand attention.

– All About Jazz

Billy Harper is the Black Saint. A tenor with grace and elegance in his personality to match his fire and brimstone on the bandstand, Harper possesses all the intensity of Coltrane, yet has a gentle easiness about him.”

– JAZZ WEEKLY

That Billy Harper's tenor saxophone is one of the most distinctive voices in modern jazz is a given.[…] The music… has religious or spiritual subtexts but not at the expense at the power and glory of what is essentially a style that only Harper possesses: literate, majestic, swelling, heavy, expansive and extensive, slightly on the edge, swinging, and always thoroughly visceral.
– ALLMUSIC

Harper… is one of the most captivating improvisers in jazz.
– LOS ANGELES TIMES

A charismatic presence onstage, dressed entirely in black leather, Harper calls his listeners to attention. His improvisations are torrential, dance-like and swinging, spiraling upward to mountaintop pronouncements that can leave listeners in a sweat.

– THE NEW YORK TIMES

No one composes like Billy Harper. His tunes are noble, soulful and questing.

– THE NEW YORK TIMES

His viscous, chocolaty tone and depth-charge bursts from the bottom of his range [are] a stark contrast to the current trend for a post-bop homogeneity of tone in the newer generation of saxophone sounds.
– JAZZWISE

While influenced by saxophonists like Coltrane and Sonny Rollins, Harper is in no way an imitator. His often lengthy improvisations and compositions showcase an interpersonal style and a heightened sense of experimentalism...
– NEW JERSEY STAGE

The way he moves harmony around is genius — it moves things around in a way you’re not taught in school — it’s genius. He turns the rules… inside out.
– DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE

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Recent Releases
Free Song(s)

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Billy Harper

Location: New York City
Instrument: Saxophone
Born: January 17, 1943

Billy Harper

Harper’s authority has only grown with age: a half-century on, he stands as one of the most commanding horn men on the planet, a pillar of stirring post-bop jazz whose robust back catalog seems long overdue for rediscovery. – THE NEW YORK TIMES

A luminary figure in post-bop

He is a soul of sensitivity and intelligence, as well as of explosive, majestic passion.

– SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

The soulfulness, joy, and mourning one can hear in his solos come as much from doxology as the prominent artists he has worked with during his career. The connection to the gospel music of his youth continues to guide his music…

Harper’s authority has only grown with age: a half-century on, he stands as one of the most commanding horn men on the planet, a pillar of stirring post-bop jazz whose robust back catalog seems long overdue for rediscovery. – THE NEW YORK TIMES

A luminary figure in post-bop

He is a soul of sensitivity and intelligence, as well as of explosive, majestic passion.

– SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

The soulfulness, joy, and mourning one can hear in his solos come as much from doxology as the prominent artists he has worked with during his career. The connection to the gospel music of his youth continues to guide his music…

– POSTGENRE

Harper's creative statements demand attention.

– All About Jazz

Billy Harper is the Black Saint. A tenor with grace and elegance in his personality to match his fire and brimstone on the bandstand, Harper possesses all the intensity of Coltrane, yet has a gentle easiness about him.”

– JAZZ WEEKLY

Harper… is one of the most captivating improvisers in jazz. – LOS ANGELES TIMES

A charismatic presence onstage, dressed entirely in black leather, Harper calls his listeners to attention. His improvisations are torrential, dance-like and swinging, spiraling upward to mountaintop pronouncements that can leave listeners in a sweat.

– THE NEW YORK TIMES

No one composes like Billy Harper. His tunes are noble, soulful and questing.

His viscous, chocolaty tone and depth-charge bursts from the bottom of his range [are] a stark contrast to the current trend for a post-bop homogeneity of tone in the newer generation of saxophone sounds. – JAZZWISE

While influenced by saxophonists like Coltrane and Sonny Rollins, Harper is in no way an imitator. His often lengthy improvisations and compositions showcase an interpersonal style and a heightened sense of experimentalism... – NEW JERSEY STAGE

The way he moves harmony around is genius — it moves things around in a way you’re not taught in school — it’s genius. He turns the rules… inside out. – DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE

Billy Harper

A Tribute to Benny Moré... by Gonzalo Rubalcaba

Split Decision by Vincent Herring

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Harper’s authority has only grown with age: a half-century on, he stands as one of the most commanding horn men on the planet, a pillar of stirring post-bop jazz whose robust back catalog seems long overdue for rediscovery.
– THE NEW YORK TIMES

Harper’s authority has only grown with age: a half-century on, he stands as one of the most commanding horn men on the planet, a pillar of stirring post-bop jazz whose robust back catalog seems long overdue for rediscovery.
– THE NEW YORK TIMES

Harper… is one of the most captivating improvisers in jazz.
– LOS ANGELES TIMES

His viscous, chocolaty tone and depth-charge bursts from the bottom of his range [are] a stark contrast to the current trend for a post-bop homogeneity of tone in the newer generation of saxophone sounds.
– JAZZWISE

While influenced by saxophonists like Coltrane and Sonny Rollins, Harper is in no way an imitator. His often lengthy improvisations and compositions showcase an interpersonal style and a heightened sense of experimentalism...
– NEW JERSEY STAGE

The way he moves harmony around is genius — it moves things around in a way you’re not taught in school — it’s genius. He turns the rules… inside out.
– DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE