Mingus’ memorable quip about a gunslinging Bird and a whole lot of dead copycats could easily be extrapolated to Coltrane and the saxophone climate of the late 60s and early 70s, so wide was latter’s sphere of influence. Nevertheless, it’s impossible to imagine Trane picking up a pistol and dispatching his manifold disciples in a manner that the vengeance-minded Mingus might. Billy Harper was one of the few of the era who took Trane’s teachings and used them to construct an original and instantly recognizable voice. Play a Harper platter and you’re virtually guaranteed equal parts spiritualized passion and beyond-the-textbook technique. With such an impressive persona, it’s a mystery why he’s recorded so infrequently over the years, relegated to sporadic spurts rather than a well-warranted steady succession of sessions. This Parisian date from start of ’79 finds him in preferred quintet surroundings stretching out on a customary three pieces that feel more like concert performances than a controlled studio enterprise. A youthful Fred Hersch is the standout in the rhythm section, playing McCoy to Harper’s Trane and erecting grand chordal edifices to carry the tunes. “The Awakening” opens with Harper accapella, intoning a mantra-like riff that opens into an incandescent solo that extends the length of the piece. A staple of his songbook, “Soran Bushi-B.H.” taps the saxophonist’s Asian experiences and works off an somber, yet soaring modal vamp that eventually locks onto a muscular groove, Harper and trumpeter Everett Hollins dovetailing in a controlled wail and onward to mic-melting solos. The set closes with the African-influenced “Cry of Hunger” a rhythmic suite-like piece broken by crevasses of silence. I’ve honestly not heard a Harper performance that did not succeed in unstoppering the ecstatic. This short, but energized set is no exception.
Posted by derek on January 14, 2007 8:15 AMThis is a GREAT album - I'm a huge Billy Harper fan. That bone-dry sound, strong as steel wire.. Great composer too. Trying To Make Heaven My Home is another cracking disc.
Posted by: Dan Warburton at January 18, 2007 3:13 AMI’m kinda surprised there haven’t been more comments here. Maybe it’s a result of the write-up above, but I figured there would be more Harper fans ready & willing to sound off. I’ve not yet heard Trying to Make Heaven My Home, but have read good things about it. Harper’s Steeplechase run is also worth checking out, particular the Live on Tour of the Far East trilogy. Sound quality is somewhat sketchy and some of the tracks are uneven, but Harper is always “on” and it’s a pleasure to hear him stretch out. There’s a killer rendering of “Trying to Make Heaven My Home” on Vol. 2 that clocks at just under 26-minutes and the version of “Cry of Hunger” on Vol. 3 rings in at a half-hour. Both reveal yet another source of kinship with Trane: his tendency to take the time necessary to say what needs saying on his horn.
I’m rubbing my rabbit’s foot hoping that the Church #9 and/or Nothing Is guys get around to posting Max Roach’s Loadstar on Horo, that’s supposed to have some absolutely smoking Harper on it.
Posted by: derek at January 18, 2007 8:37 AMAie, that's one I've never been able to snag myself!
Yeah you're right Derek, serious progressive hard bop (as opposed to mainstream no risks hard bop) isn't exactly hip. Maybe more people will contribute to the thread if you change its name to "Billy Harper Serves Imperialism"..
I first heard him on Gil Evans' "Svengali" and shortly thereafter on Randy Weston's "Carnival", both excellent records, in no small part due to Harper's contributions. But for whatever reason, I never really checked out things under his own name. My fault.
Posted by: Brian Olewnick at January 18, 2007 9:31 AMSee Derek? That "serves imperialism" tag brought an instant response! Trade your copy of Proletarian of Noise in for a Billy Harper album, Brian. You won't regret it!
Posted by: Dan Warburton at January 18, 2007 9:41 AMThinking back on it (this was the mid-70s after all), I have the recollection that Harper was considered, by me anyway, to be a ta on the conservative side. You already had a raft of tenor players being lumped into a "post-Coltrane" bag, a step or two behind the AACM guys who were commanding all the attention. Entirely unfair and everything, but I'm guessing that sort of encapsulation went a long way toward determining where my meager dollars went.
Now if there were a 30-minute Harper cut made up of long silences interrupted by his girlfriend's reading of manifesto points, well now you're talkin'.
Posted by: Brian Olewnick at January 18, 2007 9:59 AMDerek / Dan:
I wish I could help you guys out. I have "Loadstar" but I'm darned if I know how to upload anything. (We old folk are a little slow on these things).
By the way, there's some even better Billy Harper on a 2LP called "Live in Tokyo" by the Max Roach 4tet, with Cecil Bridgewater and Reggie Workman, from 21 Jan. 1977, on Denon 7508/9 (Japan). Great performance, superb sound. It was one of the first ever PCM digital recordings.
Posted by: Graham L. Rogers at January 18, 2007 11:00 AMThe two Harper platters I spent time with were Capra Black and Black Saint.
Capra Black was released on Strata-East in '73, with Cables/Workman/Priester, the drum chairs held by Elvin, Warren Smith & Billy Cobham (!).
Black Saint was the eponymous album that launched the label, released in '75.
There were a few years when Harper and Gilmore were my favorite living tenor players, due greatly to that bone-dry quality Dan referred to.
Has Harper released anything lately? Last thing I heard of his was on Weston's Verve/Gitanes albums, plus his sublime Somalia in the mid-1990s on Evidence.
Posted by: nd at January 18, 2007 12:29 PMSee Derek? That "serves imperialism" tag brought an instant response!
I think it might have more to do with the Warburton surname occupying the “Posted By:” field, Dan. :) Along those lines, what sort of collateral is necessary to get you to scribble one of these ROW entries?
I wish I could help you guys out.
Damn Graham, I’d gladly settle for a CDR burn of said album. That Denon you described sounds great too.
The two Harper platters I spent time with were Capra Black and Black Saint.
Black Saint is great, as is its Soul Note companion In Europe, which features the same band as Awakening. Two more tenors who fit into that “bone-dry” category IMO: Booker Ervin and Charlie Rouse.
Regarding Harper’s current activities, the latest thing I’m aware of his presence on is the new Charles Tollliver big band disc on the recently launched Blue Note/Mosaic label. He was also one of the best things about Malachi Thompon’s 2003 Delmark release Blue Jazz along with Gary Bartz.
Posted by: derek at January 18, 2007 1:48 PM> Two more tenors who fit into that “bone-dry” category IMO: Booker Ervin and Charlie Rouse.
Odean Pope?
Posted by: nd at January 18, 2007 8:40 PMGood one. He's got a new CIMP out that's a tribute to Roach. Sounds pretty good on first spin & even has a Rusch-taped "field recording" tacked on to the end.
Posted by: derek at January 18, 2007 9:01 PMEd Wilkerson fits the bill of "bone-dry" tone.
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