Billy Harper

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Billy Harper (born January 17, 1943) is a Jazz saxophonist, "one of a generation of Coltrane-influenced tenor saxophonists".^[1] Harper has played with some of jazz's greatest drummers; he served with Art Blakey's 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 band in the late '70s.^[2]

According to Allmusic, his 1973 album Capra Black "remains one of the seminal recordings of jazz's black consciousness movement--a profoundly spiritual effort that channels both the intellectual complexity of the avant garde as well as the emotional potency of gospel".^[3]