Tenor Saxophone | b. 1943

Harper's playing sits at a particular intersection: a Texas tenor tradition rooted in R&B and blues, a post-Coltrane harmonic and rhythmic language, and a spiritual intensity that connects his work directly to the Black consciousness movement of the early 1970s. He grew up in Houston, studied at North Texas State University where he became the first Black member of the prestigious One O'Clock Lab Band, and moved to New York in 1966. The sideman years that followed were formative: two years with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers from 1968, a period with Elvin Jones, later work with Max Roach, and a long association with both the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band and arranger Gil Evans, for whom he contributed "Priestess" and "Thoroughbred" to the 1973 album "Svengali". As a leader, his debut "Capra Black" (Strata East, 1973) remains the entry point for most collectors, though his European label connections are historically significant in their own right: his 1975 "Black Saint" album was the first release on the Italian label of the same name, and his "In Europe" (1979) inaugurated the Soul Note catalogue. He has taught at Rutgers and continues to lead his quintet on international tours.