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Billy Harper
Billy Harper (born January 17, 1943) is an American jazz saxophonist, "one of a generation of John Coltrane, Coltrane-influenced tenor saxophonists" with a distinctively stern, hard-as-nails sound on his instrument.Chris KelseyBilly Harper Biography ''AllMusic'' Biography He was born in Houston, Texas, United States. In 1965, Harper earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of North Texas College of Music, University of North Texas. Harper has played with some of jazz's greatest drummers; he served with Art Blakey's The Jazz Messengers, Messengers for two years (1968–1970); he played very briefly with Elvin Jones (1970), he played with the Thad Jones/ Mel Lewis Orchestra in the 1970s, and was a member of Max Roach's quartet from 1971–1978. In 1979, Harper formed his own group, touring with it and documenting its music on the recording ''Billy Harper Quintet in Europe'', and he was featured as a soloist on a 1983 recording, ''Such Great Friends'', with virtuoso, v ...
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Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in 2020. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the seat and largest city of Harris County and the principal city of the Greater Houston metropolitan area, which is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States and the second-most populous in Texas after Dallas–Fort Worth. Houston is the southeast anchor of the greater megaregion known as the Texas Triangle. Comprising a land area of , Houston is the ninth-most expansive city in the United States (including consolidated city-counties). It is the largest city in the United States by total area whose government is not consolidated with a county, parish, or borough. Though primarily in Harris County, small portions of the ...
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University Of North Texas
The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," Dallas Morning News, May 25, 1901, p. 2. UNT is a member of the University of North Texas System, which includes additional universities in Dallas and Fort Worth. UNT also has a location in Frisco. The university consists of 14 colleges and schools, an early admissions math and science academy for exceptional high-school-age students from across the state, the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, and a library system that comprises the university core. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". According to the National Science Foundation, UNT spent $78.4 million on research and development in 2019. Campus The main campus is located in Denton, TX part of the largest metropolitan area in T ...
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I Called Him Morgan
''I Called Him Morgan'' is a 2016 Swedish produced documentary film written and directed by Kasper Collin which offers an account of the life of jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan, and his relationship with his common-law wife Helen Morgan, who killed him in February 1972. The documentary was produced over a period of seven years, 2009 – 2016, including three years of editing. Among the participants in ''I Called Him Morgan'' are Wayne Shorter, Jymie Merritt, Billy Harper, Judith Johnson, Bennie Maupin, Larry Ridley, Paul West, Larry Reni Thomas, Al Harrison, Charli Persip and Albert "Tootie" Heath. Festival release ''I Called Him Morgan'' premiered out of competition at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival after being pitched at the 2012 MeetMarket at Doc/Fest. After Venice, it went on to play Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, New York Film Festival and BFI London Film Festival. After Toronto Vox described the film as it "feels like an Oscar ...
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Black Saint Records
Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italian independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz. History Black Saint was established in 1975 by Giacomo Pelliciotti and devoted to recording avant-garde musicians who might not have an opportunity elsewhere. In 1979, a sister label, Soul Note, was established as a home for artists who, while being no less creative, might be considered slightly closer to the mainstream. The labels specialize in avant-garde jazz stemming from the free jazz tradition. Some of its roster of artists were members of the Chicago-based music association Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and the St. Louis-based multidisciplinary arts collectives Black Artists Group and the Human Arts Ensemble. The company was based in Tribiano, Italy. Many of the recordings were made in Milan, as the performers passed thro ...
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Svengali (Gil Evans Album)
''Svengali'' is a live album by jazz composer, arranger, conductor and pianist Gil Evans, recorded in 1973 by Evans with an orchestra featuring Ted Dunbar, Howard Johnson, David Sanborn, Billy Harper, Richard Williams, Trevor Koehler, and Hannibal Marvin Peterson.Gil Evans discography
accessed February 2, 2010. The name of the album is an for Gil Evans.


Reception

The review by awarded the album 4½ stars stating "one of Gil Evans's fi ...
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Gil Evans
Ian Ernest Gilmore Evans (né Green; May 13, 1912 – March 20, 1988) was a Canadian–American jazz pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest orchestrators in jazz, playing an important role in the development of cool jazz, modal jazz, free jazz, and jazz fusion. He is best known for his acclaimed collaborations with Miles Davis. Early life Gil Evans was born in Toronto, Canada on May 13, 1912 to Margaret Julia McConnachy. Little is known about Evans' biological father, although a family friend said that he was a doctor who had died before Evans was born. Originally named Gilmore Ian Ernest Green, Evans took the last name of his step-father, John Evans, a miner. The family moved frequently, living in Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon, migrating to wherever Evans' father could find work. Eventually, the family ended up in California, first in Berkeley, where Evans attended the ninth and t ...
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Randy Weston
Randolph Edward "Randy" Weston (April 6, 1926 – September 1, 2018) was an American jazz pianist and composer whose creativity was inspired by his ancestral African connection. Weston's piano style owed much to Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk, whom he cited in a 2018 video as among pianists he counted as influences, as well as Count Basie, Nat King Cole and Earl Hines."Randy Weston talks about his new solo double CD Sound"
YouTube video, March 27, 2018.
Beginning in the 1950s, Weston worked often with trombonist and arranger Melba Liston. Described as "America's African Musical Ambassador", Weston once said: "What I do I do because it's about teaching and informing everyone about our most natural cultural phenomenon. It's really about Africa a ...
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Live On Tour In The Far East
''Live on Tour in the Far East'' is a live album led by saxophonist Billy Harper recorded in 1991 in Korea and released on the SteepleChase label.SteepleChase Records discography
accessed March 31, 2015 The album was followed by two additional volumes recorded on the same tour.


Reception

In his review for , Don Snowden states "''On Tour, Vol. 1'' shows an impressive musical range, great command of dynamics and is just loaded with really sharp, smart, excellent music once it hits its stride. And it's probably the least exciting of these three discs released from a tour that should have established Billy Harper's quintet as a major group in the jazz world".


Track listin ...
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Stanley Cowell
Stanley Cowell (May 5, 1941 – December 17, 2020) was an American jazz pianist and co-founder of the Strata-East Records label. Early life Cowell was born in Toledo, Ohio. He began playing the piano around the age of four, and became interested in jazz after seeing Art Tatum at the age of six. Tatum was a family friend. After high school, Cowell studied at Oberlin College and received a graduate degree in classical piano from the University of Michigan. During his time at college, he played with jazz multi-instrumentalist Roland Kirk, which proved to be formative for the pianist. He moved to New York in the mid-1960s. Later life and career Cowell played with Marion Brown, Max Roach, Bobby Hutcherson, Clifford Jordan, Harold Land, Sonny Rollins and Stan Getz. Cowell played with trumpeter Charles Moore and others in the Detroit Artist's Workshop Jazz Ensemble in 1965–66. In 1971, Cowell co-founded the record label Strata-East with trumpeter Charles Tolliver. The label woul ...
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Billy Harper Quintet In Europe
''Billy Harper Quintet in Europe'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist Billy Harper recorded in 1979 for the Italian Soul Note label. The album was the first release for the record label. Reception In a review for AllMusic, Jeff Schwachter wrote: "''In Europe'' gives a fine glimpse at the power and intensity of Harper's compositions and his tremendous abilities as an improviser... Highly recommended music for post-bop and free jazz appreciators." The authors of ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings'' called the album "faintly disappointing," but noted that it is "full of potential and marked by pretty much the same strengths as Harper's other work." They described "Calvary" as "superb." Track listing :''All compositions by Billy Harper'' # "Priestess" - 13:10 # "Calvary" - 7:32 # "Illumination" - 21:59 **Recorded at Barigozzi Studio in Milano, Italy on January 24 & 25, 1979 Personnel *Billy Harper - tenor saxophone *Everett Hollins - trumpet *Fred Hersch - pi ...
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Max Roach
Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz Jazz drumming, drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He worked with many famous jazz musicians, including Clifford Brown, Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Abbey Lincoln, Dinah Washington, Charles Mingus, Billy Eckstine, Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, Eric Dolphy, and Booker Little. He was inducted into the ''DownBeat'' Hall of Fame in 1980 and the ''Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 1992. In the mid-1950s, Roach co-led a pioneering quintet along with trumpeter Clifford Brown. In 1970, he founded the percussion ensemble M'Boom. He made numerous musical statements relating to the civil rights movement. Biography Early life and career Max Roach was born to Alphonse and Cressie Roach in the Township of Newland, Pasquotank County, ...
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The Thad Jones/ Mel Lewis Orchestra
The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra was a jazz big band formed by trumpeter Thad Jones and drummer Mel Lewis in New York in 1965.Lisik/Allen. 50 Years at the Village Vanguard:Thad Jone, Mel Lewis and the Village Vanguard Orchestra. Sky Deck Music, 2017. pp. 8-9 The band performed for twelve years in its original incarnation, including a 1972 tour of the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War. The collaboration ended in 1978 with Jones suddenly moving to Copenhagen, Denmark, after which the band became the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. Since the death of Lewis in 1990 it has been known as the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. They have maintained a Monday-night residency at the Village Vanguard jazz club in New York for five decades.Wong, Herb. ''The Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra'', Jazz Education Journal, Nov./Dec. 2003, Vol. 36, #3, pp. 42-46. The band won Grammy Awards for the album '' Live in Munich'' in 1978 and for the album ''Monday Night Live at the Village Vanguard'' in 2 ...
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