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Winard Harper

Harper summarizes Jeli Posse's swing savvy, world spiced flavor when he shares, “Everything builds on everything as the values and traditions are passed down. From the African roots to today, many ingredients have been thrown into the pot. The band continues to expand on the the ground laid by the medicine men and messengers before us." The 2012 Album "Coexist" epitomises the band's multicultural approach.

Harper's lifelong jazz apprenticeship has taken him around the world. It includes playing and recording with many greats, including Betty Carter, Johnny Griffin, Dr. Billy Taylor and Dexter Gordon. Influences include Jackie McClean, Clifford Brown, Max Roach, Cannonball Adderley, and Billy Higgins. "Higgins had a big impact on me as a person and musician. He played with such joy. He saw jazz as spiritual and social work and walked the talk."

Those early years also instilled a strong sense of what it means to be a band. "Building something together... sharing vision, cohesion, sacrifices and growth over time... that makes a band.", says Harper.

The Baltimore native, born in 1962, got an early start with the support of his father and older brother, Danny. By age five, he was making guest appearances with Danny's band. He recalls an epiphany while listening to recordings. "I was fascinated hearing Max do the things he did with percussion of all types," he recalls. “I knew jazz was what I wanted to play.”

Winard co-founded the internationally acclaimed Harper Brothers with trumpeter sibling, Philip in the 80's. Their solo paths diverged in 1993. Winard founded his own Sextet and in 1994 recorded Be Yourself on the Epicure label, followed by six more albums. At the same time, Winard has continued to perform and record world-wide. 30 plus years of band leadership reflect an ever evolving mission to enlighten, heal and uplift.

Awards

Official Interational Association of Jazz Educators Award, 2002 Hothouse Magazine NYC Jazz Fans Award (Drummer), 2016

Gear

Regal Tips Sabian Cymbals Warlock Drums Balaphone


Tags

150
Album Review

Winard Harper: Make It Happen

Read "Make It Happen" reviewed by Terrell Kent Holmes


Drummer, composer and bandleader Winard Harper brings his relentless exuberance to Make It Happen, where the seemingly disparate Afro-Caribbean and bebop styles stand shoulder to shoulder. The percussion-driven nature of the recording is evident from the top, with an energetic arrangement of Charlie Parker's “Segment where Alione Faye's percussion binding the fabric of the two genres seamlessly, while Stacy Dillard and Josh Evans, on tenor and trumpet, handle the bebop chores. Harper's balafon play and Abdou Mboup's talking drum give ...

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Interview

Winard Harper: Multicultural Ambassador

Read "Winard Harper: Multicultural Ambassador" reviewed by Franz A. Matzner


A tremendous force on the drums and percussion instruments of all kinds and a successful bandleader, Winard Harper has been beating on one kind of instrument or another since almost before he could walk. A child prodigy and now a veteran performer, Harper's music recognizes few stylistic, cultural, or genre boundaries. Comfortable in any setting--whether playing on the Kennedy Center stage with longtime collaborator Dr. Billy Taylor--or leading his own raucous, multi-cultural band at a local club, Harper is one ...

205
Album Review

Winard Harper Sextet: Make It Happen

Read "Make It Happen" reviewed by John Kelman


Jazz records made in one day aren't particularly unique. But looking at the large cast of players on Make It Happen, one has to be impressed at the amount of planning that went into the session--an effort that, in the hands of lesser mortals, might suck the life out of such an ambitious outing. But drummer Winard Harper's disc is a lively if not slightly schizophrenic date that mixes up strong African and Afro-Cuban rhythms, mainstream swing, and even a ...

409
Album Review

Winard Harper Sextet: Make It Happen

Read "Make It Happen" reviewed by Jeff Dayton-Johnson


Veteran drummer Winard Harper (who has played with Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin, Betty Carter, Ray Bryant, Abdullah Ibrahim, Pharoah Sanders, Clifford Jordan and others) gives us two albums in one on Make It Happen.

The first is percussion-heavy. The opening tracks, for example, present an approach to ensemble sound that recalls Mosaic-era Jazz Messengers (carefully arranged multiple-horn lines over a busy, insistent rhythm section). The best compositions echo episodes in the Mingus lineage (notably Dave Holland's excellent mid-'80s groups). These ...

174
Album Review

Winard Harper: Come into the Light

Read "Come into the Light" reviewed by Russ Musto


Come into the Light is Winard Harper's first live recording as a leader and the disc captures all the excitement and diversity the drummer's band delivers in its regular engagements. Recorded live at Cecil's Place (the Jersey club opened by drummer/producer Cecil Brooks III), the date features Harper's regular band of talented players, none of whom who have yet gotten the opportunity to record as leader, despite their obvious capabilities. Patrick Rickman is easily one of the most exciting trumpeters ...

153
Album Review

Winard Harper: A Time For The Soul

Read "A Time For The Soul" reviewed by AAJ Staff


Hard bop is no longer new, but when done right, it's one of the eternal verities of jazz. When done right, by musicians who feel the music in their guts, it's full of heart and full of life. And A Time For The Soul, the latest release from drummer Winard Harper, is hard bop done right.

Ever since his days with The Harper Brothers in the early 1990's, Winard Harper has been establishing himself as a musician to ...

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Festival

2023 Annual West Orange Jazz Festival Returns To OSPAC on October 7

2023 Annual West Orange Jazz Festival Returns To OSPAC on October 7

Source: Gregory Burrus

The Annual West Orange Jazz Festival is almost here! Saturday, October 7, 2023 1-8 pm at the Oskar Schindler Performing Arts Center located at 4 Boland Drive in West Orange NJ. We welcome you to enjoy world-class entertainment. We will be featuring 18-year-old “Jazz House” kid, star on the rise and recent recipient of the James Moody Scholarship, drummer Mecadon McCune, 98-year-old New Orleans native son and unsung hero in the annals of jazz, guitarist Warren Battiste, Grammy nominated pianist ...

5

Performance / Tour

Ginny's Supper Club - April - Marc Cary, Winard Harper & More!

Ginny's Supper Club - April - Marc Cary, Winard Harper & More!

Source: Scott Thompson Public Relations

Marc Cary - Album Release Party! Winard Harper, Damien Sneed, Michael Mwenso, Fela! & More! Ginny's Supper Club at Red Rooster - Harlem 310 Lenox Ave. (Between 125th & 126th) New York, NY 10027 Phone: 212-421-3821 Thursday, March 26 DUANE EUBANKS QUINTET 7:30PM & 9:30PM Trumpeter Duane Eubanks has performed everywhere from the Hollywood Bowl to Birdland, the Kennedy Center to Europe and Japan. His highly successful musical ...

170

Performance / Tour

Drummer Winard Harper Plays Jazz Alley in Seattle Aug. 4-5

Drummer Winard Harper Plays Jazz Alley in Seattle Aug. 4-5

Source: Seattle Jazz Scene

As a young lion in the mid-1980s, drummer Winard Harper came of age in the midst of a jazz boom. Resurgent legends mentored budding players, providing them with invaluable experience and exposure. Record labels sought out young artists, and clubs rushed to book their bands. Harper first gained attention as a supple timekeeper in 1982 with tenor sax titans Dexter Gordon and Johnny Griffin. But it was his four-year run with vocalist Betty Carter that catapulted the Baltimore native into ...

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Event

12th Annual Oris Spirit of Jazz Concert Series

12th Annual Oris Spirit of Jazz Concert Series

Source: All About Jazz

Free Lunchtime Concert Series and Bob Dylan Exhibition New York, NY.

Oris Swiss Watches along with WGBO-Jazz 88 Presents the 12th Annual Oris Spirit of Jazz Concert Series on June 9th and 16th from Noon to 2 p.m. in the atrium of the Tourneau TimeMachine, the world’s largest watch store, located at 57th Street and Madison Avenue in midtown Manhattan. The free lunchtime concerts will coincide with an exhibit celebrating the music of legendary American singer and songwriter, Bob Dylan. ...

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Performance / Tour

Winard Harper at the Atlas Performing Arts Center in Washington, DC in October

Winard Harper at the Atlas Performing Arts Center in Washington, DC in October

Source: All About Jazz

The Duke Ellington Jazz Festival Presents: Winard Harper Lang Theatre Washington, DC Saturday, October 4, 2008 7:30pm Constantly in reverence of his predecessors while remaining innovative in his own right, Winard Harper has become one of the most celebrated drummers in jazz. He is a virtuoso an on the drum set as the balafon, the West African equivalent of the marimba. Critics have commented that Harper is as pleasing and ...

166

Performance / Tour

Winard Harper Honors Jazz Appreciation Month with California Lineup and Billy Higgins Tribute

Winard Harper Honors Jazz Appreciation Month with California Lineup and Billy Higgins Tribute

Source: Mosnar Communications, Inc

Drummer honoring personal legacy to celebrate jazz appreciation by making California appearances in Larkspur, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Pedro, and Cambria. (Detroit, MI) -- Exalt Entertainment Group, premiering jazz and spoken word artists internationally announced today that Winard Harper will appear with his sextet at several California venues to celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month during April. One of the appearances in April also includes an event coproduced by The World Stage, known as The Stage. Harper stresses that this is ...

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Event

East Meets West in Jazz Drumming Legacy

East Meets West in Jazz Drumming Legacy

Source: All About Jazz

(Los Angeles, California) -- Exalt Entertainment Group, premiering jazz and spoken word artists nationally and The World Stage, a non-profit organization providing leadership in the presentation of African American cultural and artistic works, today announced they will co-present Winard Harper at L.A's Theatre at 4305 in Leimert Park Village on April 25, 2008 to celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month and honor the legacy of drummer and World Stage founder, Billy Higgins. Harper, internationally renowned East Coast band leader, drummer and composer, ...

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Music Industry

Exalt Entertainment Group Selected as Drummer Winard Harper's Booking Agent

Exalt Entertainment Group Selected as Drummer Winard Harper's Booking Agent

Source: Mosnar Communications, Inc

Detroit, Michigan -- Exalt Entertainment Group premiering jazz and spoken word artists nationally. Today announced that Drummer, Composer and Bandleader Winard Harper selected them as his booking agent. This news comes as no surprise to Exalt Entertainment who seeks to elevate the transaction of booking artists to a long term professional and artistic relationship. According to Exalt Entertainment Group Winard Harper is a world class jazz artist who adds excitement to booked events; bringing seasoned experience from working with legends ...

93

Music Industry

Winard Harper: Drummer Enjoys Catching Spirit of Jazz Great Blakey

Winard Harper: Drummer Enjoys Catching Spirit of Jazz Great Blakey

Source: All About Jazz

Drummer Winard Harper says the jazz legacy of Pittsburgh native Art Blakey goes far beyond being the leader of a legendary band. “We all have a lot of Art Blakey in us," the New York City jazz star says. “We all have that spirit in us." Harper will perform a Blakey tribute Saturday in East Liberty, but he insists that spirit will be the key to the show. “There will be stuff on my CDs that are a big part ...

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Performance / Tour

Internet Jazz Concert Featuring the Winard Harper Sextet

Internet Jazz Concert Featuring the Winard Harper Sextet

Source: All About Jazz

What: Jazz Concert featuring The Winard Harper Sextet. Broadcast in full video and audio live on the internet. When: Friday May 11, 2007 at 8:30pm EDT Where: Hyatt Regency Hotel Sungarden Room, Cincinnati, Ohio. 125 West 5th Street. Sponsor: National City Bank Winard Harper, internationally known jazz drummer, brings his sextet to the “Jazz at the Hyatt series for two full shows, 8:30pm and 10:00pm. Winard Harper has worked with Dexter Gordon, Betty Carter, Pharaoh Sanders, and Clifford Jordan among ...

"Winard Harper is one of his generation's greatest standards bearers. Harper's goal seems plain and simple - propel the ensemble with a dynamic sense of swing." - Downbeat Magazine

“Winard Harper, however, has proven since the late ‘80s to be one of the true great bandleaders who sits behind a drum kit while pushing his ensemble to explore international sounds ranging from African to Caribbean to Afro-Cuban, all wrapped around the core of Hard Bop jazz. ” - Chicago Defender " Demetrius Patterson

“Overall, Harper’s methodology translates into a smashing success, brimming with a charismatic sound and scope, largely driven by finesse and sheer firepower.” - Ejazznews " Glenn Astarita

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Primary Instrument

Drums

Location

New York City

Willing to teach

Intermediate to advanced

Credentials/Background

Winard has developed and delivered clinics, master classes and workshops for a number of settings ranging from Elementary school to post-graduate.

Clinic/Workshop Information

Having been a professional musician since the age of ten, Winard's musical career spans over thirty years of international touring, performance and recording. Numerous educational credits include regular participation with the Jazz in the Schools and Betty Carter Jazz Ahead programs at the Kennedy Center, where he is on faculty

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Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Coexist

Jazz Legacy Productions
2012

buy

Make It Happen

Piadrum Records
2007

buy

Make It Happen

Piadrum Records
2006

buy

Come into the Light

Savant Records
2005

buy

A Time For The Soul

Savant Records
2004

buy

A Time For The Soul

Savant Records
2003

buy

Videos

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