Rufus Harley Jr. (May 20, 1936 – August 1, 2006) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

musician known primarily as the first jazz musician to adopt the Great Highland bagpipe as his primary instrument.

Biography

Although born near

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

, at an early age Harley moved with his mother to a poor neighborhood in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He began playing the C melody saxophone at age 12 and also played trumpet. At the age of 22, he began studying saxophone, flute, oboe, and clarinet with Dennis Sandole (1913–2000), an Italian American

guitarist who taught several jazz musicians in Philadelphia including John Coltrane, James Moody, Jim Hall, and Pat Martino. Harley became inspired to learn the bagpipe after seeing the Black Watch perform in John F. Kennedy's funeral procession in November 1963. Then a maintenance worker for Philadelphia's housing authority, Harley began searching the city for a set of bagpipes. Failing to find one, he traveled to New York City, where he found a set in a pawn shop. He purchased the instrument for US$120, quickly adapting it to the idioms of jazz,

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

, and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

. On several occasions, when a neighbor called the police to complain about Harley's practicing in his home, he would quickly put away his bagpipes and feign ignorance, asking the officers, "Do I look like I'm Irish or Scottish to you?" He eventually acquired a better set of bagpipes, which cost him a little over US$1,000. Harley made his bagpipe performance debut in 1964. From 1965 to 1970 he released four recordings as leader on the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

label (all produced by Joel Dorn, an early supporter), also recording as a sideman with

Herbie Mann Herbert Jay Solomon (April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003), known by his stage name Herbie Mann, was an American jazz Flute, flute player and important early practitioner of world music. Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophone and clarinet ...

Sonny Stitt Sonny Stitt (born Edward Hammond Boatner Jr.; February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982) was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of his era, recording over ...

, and

Sonny Rollins Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American retired jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, Rollins recorded over sixt ...

in the 1960s and 1970s. He later recorded with

Laurie Anderson Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson (born June 5, 1947) is an American avant-garde artist, musician and filmmaker whose work encompasses performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and sculpting,Amirkhanian, Cha ...

(appearing on her 1982 album '' Big Science'') and The Roots (on their 1995 album '' Do You Want More?!!!??!''), the latter coming about due to a 1994 appearance on '' The Arsenio Hall Show''. In addition to bagpipes, on these albums he also occasionally played tenor saxophone, flute, or electric soprano saxophone. Harley often wore Scottish garb, including a kilt, in conjunction with a

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

-style horned helmet. After seeing him perform on television, a Scottish family gave him his

tartan Tartan or plaid ( ) is a patterned cloth consisting of crossing horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours, forming repeating symmetrical patterns known as ''setts''. Originating in woven wool, tartan is most strongly associated wi ...

, the MacLeod tartan, which he wore for the rest of his life. His bagpipe technique was somewhat unorthodox in that he placed the drones over his right shoulder rather than his left. He favored the key of

B-flat minor B-flat minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has five flats. Its relative major is D-flat major and its parallel major is B-flat major. Its enharmonic equivalent, A-s ...

. Harley lived for much of his life in the Germantown neighborhood of

Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and frequently gave presentations in Philadelphia-area public schools. During his frequent overseas performance tours, he carried and distributed miniature replicas of the Liberty Bell, the symbol of his hometown, as well as American flags and copies of the U.S. Constitution. He appeared on a number of television programs, including '' What's My Line?'', ''

To Tell the Truth ''To Tell the Truth'' is an American television panel show. Four celebrity panelists are presented with three contestants (the "team of challengers", each an individual or pair) and must identify which is the "central character" whose unusual ...

'' (March 22, 1965 and again c. 2000), '' I've Got a Secret'' (October 17, 1966), and ''The Arsenio Hall Show''. He also had a small role in

Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola ( ; born April 7, 1939) is an American filmmaker. He is considered one of the leading figures of the New Hollywood and one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. List of awards and nominations received by Francis Ford Coppo ...

's 1966 comedy film '' You're a Big Boy Now'', as well as '' Eddie and the Cruisers'' (1983). In addition to his performing career, he worked for the Philadelphia Housing Authority for many years. Harley's album ''Brotherly Love'', released on CD in 1998, was released at the same time as Charles Powell's book ''The Jazzish Bagpiper'', an anthology of images and conversations with Harley. Powell was the first to compliment Harley on his contributions with Celtic bagpipes to American music. Writing in the sleeve notes for the album, Ralph Stevenson Jr., Harley's executive producer, noted:

Rufus Harley resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania home of the Liberty Bell. Harley, musical ambassador of the City of Brotherly love, has been received and embraced by tribal leaders, heads of state and many notables from around the world. His message of peace and love is blended in this CD collaboration and led by his dues paid, musical labor of sax and bagpipes.

Harley performed with many notable jazz musicians such as

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

and

Dexter Gordon Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians. Gordon's height was , so he was also known as "Long Tall Dexter" an ...

. Harley died of

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia on August 1, 2006. A posthumous retrospective on Rhino Handmade, ''Courage: The Atlantic Recordings'', was released in November 2006 as a 3,000-copy limited edition and contains all the tracks from his four Atlantic LPs, plus an unreleased track of

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...

and Joe Hickerson's composition '' Where Have All the Flowers Gone?'' recorded in 1969.

Discography

As leader

* 1965 '' Bagpipe Blues'' (

) * 1966 '' Scotch & Soul'' (Atlantic) * 1968 ''A Tribute to Courage'' (Atlantic) * 1970 ''King/Queens'' (Atlantic) * 1972 ''Re-Creation of the Gods'' (Ankh) * 1998 ''Brotherly Love'' (Tartan Pride) * 2000 ''The Pied Piper of Jazz'' (compilation of Atlantic tracks, 1965–70) * 2005 ''Sustain'' (Discograph) * 2007 ''Rufus Harley with Georges Arvanitas Trio – From Philadelphia to Paris'' (Blue Cat Music) * 2009 ''Re-Creation of the Gods'' (Transparency) * 2009 ''Bagpipes of the World'' (Transparency) * 2006 ''Courage: The Atlantic Recordings'' (Rhino Handmade limited edition of 3,000 copies)

As sideman

With

*1982 '' Big Science'' (bagpipe on "Sweaters") With

*1967 '' The Wailing Dervishes'' (on "Flute Bag") With

*1974 '' The Cutting Edge'' (on "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot") With The Roots: *1995 '' Do You Want More?!!!??!'' With

*1966 '' Deuces Wild'' (Atlantic)

Films

*2008 ''Pipes of Peace: Rufus Harley'' (DVD)

References

External links

Rufus Harley biography
from Hip Wax * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harley, Rufus 1936 births 2006 deaths Jazz musicians from North Carolina Musicians from Raleigh, North Carolina 20th-century American saxophonists African-American saxophonists American jazz musicians American jazz saxophonists American jazz flautists American male saxophonists Deaths from prostate cancer in Pennsylvania Great Highland bagpipe players American male jazz musicians 20th-century American male musicians Jazz musicians from Philadelphia 20th-century bagpipe players