Horace Elva Tapscott (April 6, 1934 – February 27, 1999) 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 ...

pianist and composer. He formed the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra (also known as P.A.P.A., or The Ark) in 1961 and led the ensemble through the 1990s.

Early life

Tapscott was born in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, and moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, at the age of nine. By this time he had begun to study piano and trombone. He played with

Frank Morgan Francis Phillip Wuppermann (June 1, 1890 – September 18, 1949), known professionally as Frank Morgan, was an American character actor. He was best known for his appearances in films starting in the silent era in 1916, and then numerous sound ...

, Don Cherry, and

Billy Higgins Billy Higgins (October 11, 1936 – May 3, 2001) was an American jazz drummer. He played mainly free jazz and hard bop. Biography Higgins was born in Los Angeles, California, United States. Higgins played on Ornette Coleman's first records, be ...

as a teenager.

Later life and career

After service in the

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

, he returned to Los Angeles and played trombone with various bands, notably

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and bandleader. He worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, an ...

(1959–61). Soon after, though, he quit playing trombone and focused on piano. In 1961, Tapscott formed the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, with the aim of preserving, developing and performing African-American music. As his vision grew, this became just one part of a larger organization in 1963, the Underground Musicians Association (UGMA), which later changed name to the Union of God's Musicians and Artists Ascension (UGMAA).

Arthur Blythe Arthur Murray Blythe (July 5, 1940 – March 27, 2017) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer. He was described by critic Chris Kelsey as displaying "one of the most easily recognizable alto sax sounds in jazz, big and round, with a ...

Stanley Crouch Stanley Lawrence Crouch (December 14, 1945 – September 16, 2020) was an American cultural critic, poet, playwright, novelist, biographer, and syndicated columnist. He was known for his jazz criticism and his 2000 novel ''Don't the Moon Lo ...

Butch Morris Lawrence Douglas "Butch" Morris (February 10, 1947 – January 29, 2013) was an American cornetist, composer and conductor. He was known for pioneering his structural improvisation method, ''Conduction'', which he utilized on many recordings. ...

Wilber Morris Wilber Morris (November 27, 1937 - August 8, 2002) was an American jazz double bass player and bandleader. He was the brother of the cornetist, composer, and conductor Butch Morris.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Wilber Morris recorded widely, and performed with su ...

, David Murray,

Jimmy Woods Jimmy Woods (born October 29, 1934, in St. Louis, Missouri; died March 29, 2018, in Anchorage, Alaska) was an American jazz alto saxophonist. Woods played with the R&B band of Homer Carter in 1951, and served in the U.S. Air Force, Air Force from ...

, Nate Morgan and

Guido Sinclair Sinclair Greenwell Jr. (December 1935 - July 7, 1992) was an American jazz alto saxophonist. He was also known as Guido Sinclair, Sonny Harrison, and Junnie. He performed in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. Biography Sin ...

all performed in Tapscott's Arkestra at one time or another. Tapscott and his work are the subjects of the

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

Horace Tapscott Jazz Collection. Enthusiasts of his music formed two labels in the 1970s and 1980s, Interplay and Nimbus, for which he recorded. From allmusicguide.com: "His pianistic technique was hard and percussive, likened by some to that of

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk ( October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the Jazz standard, standard jazz repertoire, includ ...

and

Herbie Nichols Herbert Horatio Nichols (January 3, 1919 – April 12, 1963) was an American jazz pianist and composer who wrote the jazz standard " Lady Sings the Blues". Obscure during his lifetime, he is now highly regarded by many musicians and critics. Lif ...

and every bit as distinctive. In contexts ranging from freely improvised duos to highly arranged big bands, Tapscott exhibited a solo and compositional voice that was his own."

Death and legacy

Having been suffering from brain cancer, Tapscott died aged 64 on February 27, 1999, the day before a planned tribute concert in his honor took place at Los Angeles'

Leimert Park Leimert Park (; ) is a neighborhood in the South Los Angeles region of Los Angeles, California. Developed in the 1920s as a mainly residential community, it features Spanish Colonial Revival homes and tree-lined streets. The Life Magazine/Leim ...

. An engraving in the sidewalk along Degnan Boulevard in the Leimert Park neighborhood reads: "Horace Tapscott, the local pianist and organizer whose ensemble, the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, gave many musicians their first gigs and helped heal a community impacted by racism." His personal archive of manuscripts, arrangements and recordings was donated to

UCLA Library The UCLA Library (University of California, Los Angeles) system is one of the largest academic research libraries in North America, with a collection of over twelve million books and 100,000 serials. The system is spread over 12 libraries, 12 ot ...

in 2003 by his wife, Cecilia Tapscott.

Discography

As leader

*'' The Giant Is Awakened'' (

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, 1969) - as Horace Tapscott Quintet *'' Songs of the Unsung'' ( Interplay, 1978) *'' In New York'' (Interplay, 1979) *''Lighthouse 79, Vol. 1'' (Nimbus West, 1979

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*''Lighthouse 79, Vol. 2'' (Nimbus West, 1979

*''At the Crossroads'' (with Everett Brown, Jr.) (Nimbus West, 1980) *''Dial 'B' for Barbra'' (Nimbus West, 1981) - as Horace Tapscott Sextet *''Live At Lobero'' (with Roberto Miranda and Sonship) (Nimbus West, 1981) *''Live At Lobero, Vol. II'' (with Roberto Miranda and Sonship) (Nimbus West, 1981) *''Little Africa'' (piano solo) (Art Union, 1983) *'' Dissent or Descent'' (Nimbus West, 1984

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*''Autumn Colors'' (Bopland, 1984; reissue: Interplay, 1990) *'' The Dark Tree'' (

HatArt Hathut Records is a Swiss record company and label founded by Werner Xavier Uehlinger in 1974 that specializes in jazz and classical music. The name of the label comes from the artwork of Klaus Baumgartner. Hathut encompasses the labels hat ART, ...

, 1991) - originally released as two separate volumes and re-released as a 2-CD set *''Horace Tapscott's Arkestra Live in Chicago'' (1993) *''Among Friends'' (with

Sonny Simmons Huey "Sonny" Simmons (August 4, 1933 – April 6, 2021) was an American jazz musician. Biography Simmons was born on August 4, 1933, in Sicily Island, Louisiana. He grew up in Oakland, California, where he began playing the English horn. (Along ...

) (Jazz Friends Productions, 1995

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*'' Aiee! The Phantom'' (

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, 1996) *'' Thoughts of Dar es Salaam'' (Arabesque, 1997) *''Live at Théâtre Du Chêne Noir - Avignon, France 1989'' (with Michael Session) (The Village, 2020) *''Legacies for Our Grandchildren - Live in Hollywood, 1995'' (Dark Tree, 2022) - as Horace Tapscott Quintet

With the Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra

*''The Call'' (Nimbus West, 1978) *''Flight 17'' (Nimbus West, 1978) *''Live at I.U.C.C.'' (Nimbus West, 1979) *''Why Don't You Listen? Live at LACMA, 1998'' (with the Great Voice of UGMAA) (Dark Tree, 2019) *''Ancestral Echoes: The Covina Sessions, 1976'' (Dark Tree, 2020) *''Live at Century City Playhouse 9/9/79'' (Nimbus West, 2020)

As sideman

With

Lou Blackburn Lou Blackburn (November 12, 1922 – 7 June 1990) was an American jazz trombonist. Biography Blackburn was born in Rankin, Pennsylvania. He is best known for his work in the swing genre but he also performed in the West Coast jazz and sou ...

*''Jazz Frontier'' ( Imperial, 1963) *''Two Note Samba'' (Imperial, 1963) **Both titles compiled on '' The Complete Imperial Sessions'' (

Blue Note Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue no ...

, 2006) With Roberto Miranda's Home Music Ensemble *''Live at Bing Theatre - Los Angeles, 1985'' (Dark Tree, 2021)

As composer and arranger

With

Sonny Criss William "Sonny" Criss (23 October 1927 – 19 November 1977) was an American jazz musician. An Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist of prominence during the bebop era of jazz, he was one of many players influenced by Charlie Parker. Biography ...

*'' Sonny's Dream (Birth of the New Cool)'' (

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, 1968) *''

Crisscraft ''Crisscraft'' is a 1975 album by jazz saxophonist Sonny Criss, originally released on the Muse label, and later reissued on 32 Jazz.

'' (

Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

, 1975) - composer only

References

Bibliography

* Dailey, Raleigh. "The Dark Tree: Jazz and the Community Arts in Los Angeles" (review). ''Notes'' Volume 63, Number 3, March 2007, pp. 632–634. * Isoardi, Steven L. ''The Dark Tree: Jazz and the Community Arts in Los Angeles.'' April 2006. 394p. illus. index. University of California, $34.95 (0-520-24591-1). * Isoardi, Steven L. ''Songs of the Unsung: The Musical and Social Journey of Horace Tapscott''. Duke University Press, 2001. * Isoardi, Steven L. ''The Music Finds a Way: A PAPA/UGMAA Oral History of Growing Up In Postwar South Central Los Angeles''. Dark Tree, 2020.

External links

*
Horace Tapscott
at

Posi-Tone Records Posi-Tone Records is an American jazz record label founded by Marc Free, a producer and musician who runs the company with engineer Nick O'Toole. The label's first five albums were issued in 1995. The roster includes trombonist Steve Davis, saxop ...

*
"A Fireside Chat With Horace Tapscott"
with Fred Jung in ''Jazz Weekly''
Horace Tapscott
"Listening In: An Interview with Horace Tapscott", with Bob Rosenbaum, Los Angeles, October 1982
Horace Tapscott
Interview, Center for Oral History Research, UCLA {{DEFAULTSORT:Tapscott, Horace 1934 births 1999 deaths 20th-century African-American musicians 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American pianists African-American pianists American jazz pianists American male jazz pianists Arabesque Records artists Avant-garde jazz pianists Experimental big band musicians Jazz musicians from Houston Jazz musicians from Texas Musicians from Houston Place of death missing Post-bop pianists