A Benefit for Musicians For Musicians, featuring The Billy Harper Quintet - New York City Article

A Benefit for Musicians For Musicians:
The Billy Harper Quintet, and
The E.C.O. Ensemble
Zinc Bar
82 West 3rd Street
Wednesday, September 5

The debate still rages as exactly what to call this type of jazz: the more serious types insist on the 1950s term “hard bop,” but among those who actually like the idea of finding an audience, the slightly later term “Soul jazz” is preferrable. But there’s no debate that no matter what you call it, one of the music’s most outstanding practitioners is the big-toned tenor saxophonist Billy Harper, not only as an commanding soloist, but as a composer and bandleader of rare vision and charisma. Harper turns in excellent work not only with his own groups, but as a co-leader of the all star Hard Bop / Soul Jazz collective, The Cookers. And furthermore, the passing Randy Weston this weekend inspired me to re-listen to the great Afrocentric pianist 1973 album Tanjah, featuring Mr. Harper. For this benefit for a very worthy jazz musicians’ support organization (co-presented by Eclectix), Mr. Harper’s Quintet will be joined by the E. C. O. Ensemble, led by guitarist Roger Blanc and featuring flautist Michael Laderman, pianist Emiko Hayashi, and drummer David Picton.

For more information, please see the organization’s website, here, or the Zinc Bar, here.