Rufus Harley

Rufus Harley was jazz’s initial bagpiper, singlehandedly transforming a droning, unwieldy instrument connected nearly exclusively with Celtic customs right into a soulful and deeply religious element of the present day jazz lexicon. Created Might 20, 1936, in Raleigh, NC, Harley spent nearly all his years as a child in Philadelphia, where he researched saxophone and flute with 18 produced his professional debut behind bandleader Mickey Collins. Like a lot of his era, his existence was irrevocably modified from the November 22, 1963, assassination of Chief executive John F. Kennedy, but Harley was especially moved from the Dark View, the Scottish infantry bagpiper corps associated Kennedy’s funeral procession, and wanted to recreate their potently mournful audio via traditional woodwinds. Unsatisfied using the outcomes, Harley finally obtained his personal bagpipes at a fresh York Town pawnshop, and in 1964 guaranteed his 1st gigs in the Western Philadelphia nightclub Squeaky’s — viewers had been bemused but appreciative, so when a home demonstration recording discovered its method to Atlantic Information manufacturer Joel Dorn, the label expanded a contract give. Harley’s debut LP, Bagpipe Blues implemented in 1966, instantly demonstrating the viability of bagpipes within an improvisational placing; the record was a crucial success, and likewise to moonlighting on schedules headlined by fellow Atlantic works Sonny Stitt (Deuces Crazy) and Herbie Mann (The Wailing Dervishes), Harley cut three even more acclaimed albums for the label — Scotch and Spirit, Tribute to Courage, and Kings/Queens — which steered his music from its really difficult bop origins towards the world of psychedelia-inspired religious jazz. Along with his 1972 Ankh label masterpiece Re-Creation from the Gods, Harley embraced jazz-funk. Despite underground press accolades, the record proved too severe for the jazz establishment and he didn’t headline another program for greater than a one fourth century. He even so continued to be a staple from the Philadelphia membership scene, and for quite some time headlined a normal Tuesday evening gig on the city’s 23rd St. Café. Harley also installed several European travels, so when a self-proclaimed “worldwide ambassador of independence,” he was famed among close friends and enthusiast for distributing small Liberty Bells, American flags, and copies from the U.S. Constitution during his moves overseas. After guesting on albums as different as Laurie Anderson’s Big Research and the Root base’ WOULD YOU LIKE Even more?!!??!, Harley finally released his very own comeback time, Brotherly Like, in 1998. Sustain implemented in 2005. Following a long struggle with prostate cancers, he passed away in Philadelphia on August 1, 2006.