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| 5.281 Ft
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| 1. | Priestess
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| 2. | Trying To Make Heaven My Home
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| 3. | My Funny Valentine
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| 4. | Destiny Is Yours
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Jazz / Post-Bop, Hard Bop
Billy Harper (tenor sax)
Newman T. Baker (drums)
Eddie Henderson (trumpet)
Louie Spears (bass)
Francesca Tanksley (piano)
This Taiwan performance predates the Korean performance on Volume 1 by five days and it may be the best of three releases (maybe) that collectively function as an audio verite documentary of a jazz group on the road. The cohesive way the four pieces here complement each other makes it sound like a complete performance. The recording quality again isn't optimal -- it's Harper's saxophone and Eddie Henderson's trumpet which suffer slightly in clarity this time -- but no way should that serve as an excuse to avoid savoring these snapshots of a great jazz unit in the process of coming together. "Priestess" takes off from a very effective melody chopped into sections and topped by more of those great Harper & Henderson harmonies. "Trying to Make Heaven My Home" aims for Coltrane spirit force intensity from the start, with Harper's sax line serene as the quintet double times around him before settling into a bluesy setting led by Francesca Tanksley's piano. Harper launches into some intense, blues-tinged improvising but the piece ebbs and flows as Henderson's solo begins muted and sparse. After Tanksley and bassist Louie Spears work in stately, swirling tandem, they take the dynamics down and the piece out with a reprise of the intense opening theme. "My Funny Valentine," the lone standard on these three discs, gets a pretty masterful performance from all and "Destiny Is Yours" works off its fanfare horn melody through spare Henderson and full Tanksley solos over sliding riffs by Spears. Harper is masterful through, tossing off razor sharp lines that are as dignified and sophisticated or biting and acidic as the music demands. The 12 1/2 minutes flow by so organically it seems to be over just like that -- in the positive sense that the group always sustains interest through gripping solos, different ways of interacting, tempo shifts, command of dynamics, any number of delectable details. And that holds for all the performances on On Tour, Volume 2. It's just exceptional jazz that constantly engages the listener, following its own flow and internal logic and continually changing up on your expectations...which is a pretty good basic blueprint of what all great jazz should strive for. ~ Don Snowden, All Music Guide
Billy Harper
Active Decades: '70s, '80s, '90s and '00s
Born: Jan 17, 1943 in Houston, TX
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Modern Creative, Post-Bop, Modal Music
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. Harper is consummately well-rounded, able to play convincingly in any context, from bop to free. His muscular tone, lithe articulation, comprehensive harmonic knowledge, and unflagging energy define him as a saxophonist. He's also possessed of an abundant imagination that connects directly to his blues and gospel roots. Though not as well-known as he might be, Harper is a jazz improviser of significant stature. Harper grew up in Houston, TX. By the age of five he was singing in church and at various choral events. At age 11 he was given a saxophone for Christmas. In the beginning he was mostly self-taught, though he was helped along by his uncle Earl Harper, a former trumpeter who had gone to school with bop trumpeter Kenny Dorham. Dorham's 1950s work was a formative influence. In his teens Harper played in R&B bands, and at the age of 14 formed his own quartet. In the early '60s, Harper studied jazz at North Texas State University, where he became (at that time) the only African-American member of the school's prestigious One O'Clock Lab Band. Harper graduated from NTSU with a Bachelor of Music degree and also did post-graduate work. In 1966 Harper moved to New York. That year, he led an ensemble that was featured on an NBC-TV special, "The Big Apple." Within short time after arriving in New York, Harper started playing with well-known bandleaders. In 1967 he began a long-lasting association with bandleader/arranger Gil Evans. Harper has played with some of jazz's greatest drummers; he served with Blakey's Messengers for two years (1968-1970); he played very briefly with Elvin Jones (1970), and was a member of Max Roach's band in the late '70s. Harper also became a regular member of the Thad JonesMel Lewis Big Band. In the '70s, Harper began recording under his own name for European labels. His album Black Saint (1975) was the first recording issued by the label of the same name; his In Europe (1979) inaugurated the Soul Note label. Harper recorded relatively infrequently in the '80s and '90s, although he maintained an active performing career, mostly as a leader. He's enjoyed a parallel career as a music educator, teaching at Livingston College and Rutgers. He's also received multiple grants from various arts agencies, including two from the National Endowment of the Arts. Harper's Black Saint LP was named Jazz Record of the Year -- Voice Grand Prix, by the Modern Jazz League of Tokyo.
--- Chris Kelsey, All Music Guide |
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