Jazz Articles about William Roper

Bobby Bradford and Friends: Stealin' Home: Jackie Robinson Suite

by Chuck Koton
August 8, 2022

Born in Mississippi in 1934 and raised in Dallas, Texas, cornet master and composer Bobby Bradford knows racism and segregation. When asked if Texas was completely segregated, Bradford said, “If there's a word stronger than 'completely,' that was Texas." In spite of the hate and discrimination of everyday life in the Jim Crow South, Bradford and his family were tuned in to events around the country that impacted African Americans. They “got the news from the outside world" from Black ...

William Roper: If I Ran the Circus

by Rex Butters
July 17, 2005

William Roper makes an auspicious launch of his Tomato Sage Consortium Records with If I Ran the Circus, a collection of solos and small ensembles composed by Roper and featuring improvisations by veterans of the EAR Unit, the Terry sisters, Alex Cline, and of course Roper himself, among others. The compositions reflect the tuba player's unique sense of whimsy, drama, and spatial relations.

Playing out like a suite, “Three Guys on a Hilltop... features Roper, EAR Unit's Dorothy ...

William Roper with Judicanti Responsura & Zen Tsuba: Juneteenth

by Glenn Astarita
September 1, 2001

California-based tubaist William Roper is among an elite few of virtuosi who are capable of extending their instruments range and capabilities to previously unvisited terrain. The artist is also known for his involvement with legendary new music/modern jazz icons Anthony Braxton and James Newton amid stints with other notables who generally alter or extend the tried and true into novel frameworks for improvisation/composition. With Juneteenth, his inaugural date as a leader, Roper injects his stunning technique into a series of ...

William Roper, Francis Wong & Elliot Humberto Kavee: The Lament Of Absalom

by Glenn Astarita
July 1, 1999

The tuba is an often-misunderstood instrument, especially within jazz circles. However, skilled artists such as William Roper and Howard Johnson to cite but a few, have made great strides incorporating this bulky and almost comical looking instrument into the jazz forefront. Roper has made quite a name for himself performing or recording with Yusef Lateef, Anthony Braxton, Dizzy Gillespie, Vinny Golia and numerous others. A true virtuoso who displays phenomenal technique, Roper along with fellow modern jazz explorers Francis Wong ...