Rufus Harley, 1936 - 2006

[Chalupa]

http://blogs.philly.com/blinq/

August 02, 2006

Rufus Harley, Jazz Bagpiper

Last night WRTI-FM's Bob Perkins announced the death of an Philly original. Rufus Harley is credited as the first jazz musician to pick the Scottish bagpipes as his instrument.

You might have heard his distinctive drone on CDs by The Roots (Do You Want More?!!!??!) and Laurie Anderson (Big Science). If you ever saw a picture of him, it would stick. He cut a distinctive swath.

So did his music.

I talked to his son, Messiah Harley, the trumpeter, this morning. He said his father had prostate cancer, but never let on to anyone that he was hurting.

"He was a soldier," the son said. "I have no other way to explain it. He never let his sickness stop him from playing, and from making people happy. He was always concerned about the people."

Messiah Harley said he drove his father to Germantown Hospital Monday evening - a few hours after his last show. Doctors transferred him to Einstein, his son said, when it was apparent he was so sick.

"All he was talking about was, 'Messiah, come and get me. I have a gig to get to in Baltimore.' He tried to sit up and his heart stopped." Funeral arrangements are pending, his son said.

Shaun Mullen at Kiko's House wrote this last night about Harley, who was 70:

Jazz bagpipes would seem to be an acquired taste, but I fell into Harley's funky style immediately and he became a lifelong favorite whom I caught several times at Ortleib's Brewhaus in Philadelphia.

A 2001 profile in the City Paper described what moved the Germantown resident to pick up the pipes:

In November 1963, the winter of America’s discontent, a young Philadelphia musician named Rufus Harley watched John F. Kennedy’s funeral on television. While a nation mourned, the sound of the bagpipes from the funeral procession sent Harley’s spirits soaring.

He attempted to replicate the sound on his sax; unsatisfied, he scoured the area for a set of bagpipes. He called around to every music store in the region, but couldn’t score them. It wasn’t until he made his first-ever trip to New York City that he found his pipes. In a small pawnshop he spent $120, that month’s entire mortgage money, and altered the course of jazz forever.

He was born in North Carolina in 1936, of African-American and Cherokee heritage. He moved to Philadelphia as a small boy. In high school he played up several wind instruments. He recorded several albums on the Atlantic label, Scotch & Soul the first to command critical notice. You haven't lived until you've heard Harley's cover of the Byrds' "Eight Miles High." An evocative description of his work here.

Once asked how to play the jazz bagpipes, Harley answered:

You play off the air that's in there.

[Chalupa]

http://www.citypaper.net/articles/011801/mus.rufus.shtml

[JohnS]

Sad news. I saw Harley with Sonny Rollins - unforgetable.

[brownie]

Sorry to hear this. Rufus Harley was really one of a kind.

Heard him last year when he played in Paris in the second part of a concert by Byard Lancaster.

What seems to be his last record 'Sustain' on the PhillyJazz label

is a wonderful swinging date fromp a quite unique musician!

[clifford_thornton]

Yeah, I saw him opposite Byard last year in NYC. He was surely a distintive personality and musician, and will be missed. RIP.

[Jim Alfredson]

Randy played with him last year (I think). Perhaps we can share a story. RIP.

[Brad]

I never saw him nor have I ever heard him (my loss) but the sound must be distinctive. RIP.

[mikeweil]

I bought his first Atlantic LP out of curiosity back then - but it was surprisingly good. I listened to it a lot, before I sold it to make space about ten years ago. His distinctive sound on soprano and tenor still rings in my ears.

R.I.P.

[randissimo]

I bought his first Atlantic LP out of curiosity back then - but it was surprisingly good. I listened to it a lot, before I sold it to make space about ten years ago. His distinctive sound on soprano and tenor still rings in my ears.

R.I.P.

I didn't realize there was already a thread going on... I played at the Idlewild Jazz Festival in 2004 and had come offstage after playing a set with organist Lyman Woodard.. I had a message from the promoter announcing that Rufus needed a drummer for his set later that afternoon.. I get onstage and there's Rufus with his bagpipes, wearing a red, white, & blue kilt, and sporting a big red head bonnet with dredlocks. He came over to me, shook my hand and says, "Thanks for playing with me, start a vamp for "My Favorite Things" and kicked off a bright tempo in a 9/8 afro-latin feel and I heard this bizarre sound in my monitor. It was a weird whining sound that was building in intensity and was Rufus filling the air chamber of his bagpipes before starting the head of the tune.. He played great that day and was a delight on the mic between tunes. He had lots of stories and anecdotes he shared with the audience. I'm glad I had a chance to play with him. I heard him once on a tv talk show in the 60's and never forgot him..

Edited August 15, 2006 by randissimo

[sidewinder]

I bought his first Atlantic LP out of curiosity back then - but it was surprisingly good. I listened to it a lot, before I sold it to make space about ten years ago. His distinctive sound on soprano and tenor still rings in my ears.

R.I.P.

I didn't realize there was already a thread going on... I played at the Idlewild Jazz Festival in 2004 and had come offstage after playing a set with organist Lyman Woodard.. I had a message from the promoter announcing that Rufus needed a drummer for his set later that afternoon.. I get onstage and there's Rufus with his bagpipes, wearing a red, white, & blue kilt, and sporting a big red head bonnet with dredlocks. He came over to me, shook my hand and says, "Thanks for playing with me, start a vamp for "My Favorite Things" and kicked off a bright tempo in a 9/8 afro-latin feel and I heard this bizarre sound in my monitor. It was a weird whining sound that was building in intensity and was Rufus filling the air chamber of his bagpipes before starting the head of the tune.. He played great that day and was a delight on the mic between tunes. He had lots of stories and anecdotes he shared with the audience. I'm glad I had a chance to play with him. I heard him once on a tv talk show in the 60's and never forgot him..

Very cool. Thanks for sharing !

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I had his first album and thought some of it was great and some not too great.

But he sounded great on Sonny Stitt's "Deuces wild" with Don Patterson & Billy James. Oh yes!

RIP.

MG

[JSngry]

Harley was a character, a piece of the puzzle that we might not think of as "important", but a piece neverhteless. And until you get all the pieces, the puzzle's not complete.

I'll miss him. I've heard his last album, and it's a unique piece of work. Unique in a good way, btw. But then again, they almost all are/were. A favorite is Re-Creation Of The Gods

Plenty of Larry Young-ish organ on this one, and it fits. Hardly "essential", but nonetheless recommended with appreciation and affection.

[fent99]

UK Guardian

http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/obituary/0,,1854612,00.html

Saw this a few weeks ago and was majorly intrigued. Anyone recommend where to start with his output on bagpipes? I've a friend who plays in a pipe band who I'd love to hook upwith some and would love to hear some myself. I've only heard some Paul Dunmall on the pipes and didn't enjoy that much .

Anything with Rollins available?

[Van Basten II]

Went to Montreal last year or the year before for the festival Suoini per il Popolo, was supposed to see him., couldn't, guess i missed my chance.

What a shame.

[mikeweil]

Anything with Rollins available?

Harley was only on the Milestone LP The Cutting Edge, recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1974. Don't know if that was reissued on CD.

[Shannon Dickey]

Oh, man!! Brother Rufus!! Not only a truly one of a kind player but an amazing human being!!

I had the good fortune of corresponding, on the phone, over a 2 year period when I worked at a record store here in Denver. Never met him in person, but the conversations we had were mind bending!!

He had his own cosmology going on. He talked in excited staccato runs, he had so many unique ideas, it's really hard to explain, heck, explaining Sun Ra's ideas would be easier!!

Anyway, Rufus sent me a huge package full of home made cdrs + a bunch of glossies and an amazing video of news stories about him and lots of live footage of hm playing all over the world. He even sent me a tee shirt, professionally printed with his likeness on the front. And a folio of press clippings and photos, all of this for FREE!! He was that kind of a man, he was so excited to learn that a 20-something kid had almost all of his vinyl!! What a guy! He will be missed!!

You know how I started the correspondence? I called Philly information, got the phone # and cold called him, wish I would have taped those conversations! Perhaps if anyone is interested they can call and see if his family is selling any of the unique cdrs/shirts/etc, the video blows all of my pals minds when I show it for them.

I had heard of his death, but just found this thread. Time to haul out the Harley wax tomorrow!!

----HB

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Oh, man!! Brother Rufus!! Not only a truly one of a kind player but an amazing human being!!

I had the good fortune of corresponding, on the phone, over a 2 year period when I worked at a record store here in Denver. Never met him in person, but the conversations we had were mind bending!!

He had his own cosmology going on. He talked in excited staccato runs, he had so many unique ideas, it's really hard to explain, heck, explaining Sun Ra's ideas would be easier!!

Anyway, Rufus sent me a huge package full of home made cdrs + a bunch of glossies and an amazing video of news stories about him and lots of live footage of hm playing all over the world. He even sent me a tee shirt, professionally printed with his likeness on the front. And a folio of press clippings and photos, all of this for FREE!! He was that kind of a man, he was so excited to learn that a 20-something kid had almost all of his vinyl!! What a guy! He will be missed!!

You know how I started the correspondence? I called Philly information, got the phone # and cold called him, wish I would have taped those conversations! Perhaps if anyone is interested they can call and see if his family is selling any of the unique cdrs/shirts/etc, the video blows all of my pals minds when I show it for them.

I had heard of his death, but just found this thread. Time to haul out the Harley wax tomorrow!!

----HB

Thanks for sharing that HB. There are so many really nice people in jazz...

MG

[Chalupa]

Rufus Harley - Courage: The Atlantic Recordings

The late Rufus Harley didn't take “no” for an answer when it came to music. As a youngster in Philadelphia, the novice saxophonist twice retrieved his instrument from a pawn shop to which his mother had tried to consign it. But after November 25, 1963, the sax would play second fiddle in Rufus' jazz career. That was the day of John F. Kennedy's funeral procession, and leading the solemn march through the streets of the nation's capital were nine pipers from the Black Watch of The Royal Highlanders Regiment. Listening to them play, Harley dreamed up a whole new kind of music...

Jazz bagpipes. On paper, it was a pretty unlikely combination, but for anyone who gave them a fair hearing, Rufus' performances quelled all skeptics. When he won over local Philly DJ and aspiring record producer Joel Dorn, Harley earned a contract with Atlantic Records, which issued his debut in 1966. Bagpipe Blues was a success, and through the remainder of the decade, Harley and Dorn completed three more albums for the label: Scotch & Soul (1966), A Tribute To Courage (1967), and King/Queens (1970).

Though he was also a skilled sax player and flutist, Rufus was seen at the time as a novelty act -- “the world's first jazz bagpipe player.” But in hindsight his music is of a piece with the sonic boundary-breaking of such greats as Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Pharoah Sanders in the 1960s - a time of heightened interest in exotic sounds and styles from around the globe. In the years since his innovative Atlantic releases, Harley toured with his idol Sonny Rollins, and made guest appearances on recordings by the likes of Laurie Anderson and The Roots.

The Rhino Handmade collection Courage: The Atlantic Recordings gathers all four of the jazzman's albums for the label, along with a previously unreleased version of “Where Have All The Flowers Gone?” from the King/Queens sessions and “Pipin' The Blues” from Sonny Stitt's 1967 LP Deuces Wild, a track which prominently features Harley's bagpipes. Featuring remastered sound, rare photos, and producer Daniel Goldmark's insightful liner notes, this ear-opening 2-CD set goes a long way toward proving Rufus' contention that “this thing about the bagpipes not being for jazz is all in the mind.”

Courage: The Atlantic Recordings is available for $39.98 as an individually numbered limited edition of 3,000 copies. Get it now at:

www.rhinohandmade.com/browse/ProductLink.lasso?Number=7725

[Dmitry]

Courage: The Atlantic Recordings is available for $39.98 as an individually numbered limited edition of 3,000 copies. Get it now at:

www.rhinohandmade.com/browse/ProductLink.lasso?Number=7725

It's gonna take a looooong time to sell out.

[Teasing the Korean]

He also contributed to one of Herbie Mann's best albums, "The Whirling Dervishes," which is in a similar bag to "Impressions of the Middle East."

[Tom Storer]

Betty Carter once said (paraphrasing), "When Rufus Harley came out, he was playing downtown and everybody went down to see him, myself, all the cats. He was playing OK but before long we realized his bagpipes were in the key of G. Every tune he played was in G!"

[danasgoodstuff]

I'm not so sure this is gonna take a long time selling out, remember that many retailers/dealers will also buy it on spec...so since I missed the Rhino Hand Made expanded versions of Buddy & Jr. Play the Blues and PBBB LIve I, for one, will not procrastinate on this one.