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Billy Harper Quintet
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February 2025 | ||||||
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In his early recordings and performances with leaders such as Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Max Roach, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, Randy Weston and Gil Evans, during the 60s and 70s, Billy Harper already had a massive sound on the tenor saxophone, combining John Coltrane’s spiraling intensity with a bluesy brawn that pointed back to his Texas origins.
Harper’s authority has only grown with age: a half-century on, he stands as one of the most commanding horn men on the planet, a pillar of stirring post-bop jazz whose robust back catalog seems long overdue for rediscovery.
For half a century he has been performing his original music with the renowned Billy Harper Quintet all over the globe, and recording over a dozen albums as a leader and prolific composer.
After a pandemic induced hiatus, the Quintet sprung back into action, starting 2023 off with a series of #CapraBlackIsBack performances, marking a year long celebration of Billy Harper's 80th birthday, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the group's official inception and their historic debut album Capra Black, the impact of which still lingers among jazz listeners worldwide.
Francesca Tanksley has been the pianist in this group for more than 40 years – a clear attestation of the wide ranging concensus that her extraordinary musicality cannot be matched nor replaced when it comes to Billy Harper’s opus.
Renowned master drummer Aaron Scott, a longtime member of McCoy Tyner’s band, has also been in the group for decades and is a rare find among jazz drummers who can meet and surpass the challenge of doing Harper’s music justice.
Freddie Hendrix, one of the most in-demand jazz trumpeters of today, coveted for his uniquely soulful and exciting improvisations is also a longstanding member.
Finally, a newer but nevertheless perfectly matched addition to the group is the award-winning bassist Dezron Douglas whose artistry on the strings brings Harper’s compositions to a whole new level.
Program and cast
Billy Harper: tenor, soprano saxophone
Freddie Hendrix: trumpet
Francesca Tanksley: piano
Dezron Douglas: bass
Aaron Scott: drums
PORGY and BESS Jazzclub
Porgy & Bess (actually, Jazz and Music Club Porgy & Bess ) is a jazz club in the Riemergasse 11 in the 1st district of Vienna. The club , founded in 1993 is considered " the most important jazz organizer and trendy meeting point " of the Austrian capital .
The program of Porgy & Bess speaks to a very large audience , about 70,000 guests a year ; is accordingly Jazz " understood very pluralistic ," and the program " even in fringe areas , such as electronic music , contemporary music and world music penetrated . " Many international artists , particularly from the U.S. space , see also Austrian musician here an opportunity to perform . The club also offers the stage for events, such as the award of the Austrian World Music Award.
Musicologist Christian Scheib According to the Porgy & Bess " at the same time essential for the development of the musical ( jazz ) reality of a City" and needs and uses ' plain commonplace as urban space music. " It creates itself " through artistic preferences, acoustic quality , capacity and real capacity, the necessary exclusion of other clubs. " Here, the different areas of the jazz clubs allow - the area in front of the stage with tables, upstairs gallery , a lateral area with a bar at counter - different intense concentration on the concert scene . For Jazzthetik Porgy & Bess is even a " traditional club . "
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