Rufus Harley

Rufus Harley with great highland bagpipe

Rufus Harley Painting, "Messenger of Freedom" By Eddie Adolf © 2007

Rufus Harley, Jr. (b. near Raleigh, North Carolina, May 20, 1936; d. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 31, 2006) was an American jazz musician of mixed Cherokee and African ancestry, known primarily as the first jazz musician to adopt the Scottish great Highland bagpipe as his primary instrument.

Biography

Although born near Raleigh, North Carolina, 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 jazz guitarist who also taught several other Philadelphia jazz musicians.^[1]

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 the 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 Jewish-operated pawn shop. He purchased the instrument for US$120, quickly adapting it to the idioms of jazz, blues, and funk. On several occasions, when a neighbor called the police to complain about Harley's practicing in his apartment, he would quickly put away his bagpipes and feign ignorance, asking the officers, "Do I look like I'm Irish or Scottish to you?"^[2] He eventually acquired a better set of bagpipes, which cost him a little over US$1,000.^[3]

Harley made his bagpipe performance debut in 1964. From 1965 to 1970 he released four recordings as leader on the Atlantic label (all produced by Joel Dorn, an early supporter), also recording as a sideman with Herbie Mann, Sonny Stitt, and Sonny Rollins in the 1960s and 1970s. He later recorded with Laurie Anderson (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 plays tenor saxophone, flute, or electric soprano saxophone.

Harley often wore Scottish garb, including a kilt, in conjunction with a Viking-style horned helmet. After seeing him perform on television, a Scottish family gave him his tartan, the MacLeod tartan, which he wore for the rest of his life.^[3] 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.

Harley lived for much of his life in the Germantown neighborhood of Northwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 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 (March 22, 1965 ^[4] and again c. 2000), I've Got a Secret (October 17, 1966),^[5] and The Arsenio Hall Show. He also had a small role in Francis Ford Coppola'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.

He died at Philadelphia's Albert Einstein Medical Center on July 31, 2006 of prostate cancer.^[6] He is survived by his former wife Barbara Jean Jones, 16 children, and 15 grandchildren. One of his sons, Messiah Patton Harley, also of Philadelphia, is a trumpeter who often performed with his father.

A new documentary film entitled Pipes of Peace, an intimate profile of the late Philadelphia musician, directed and produced by fellow Philadelphian George Manney, was released by Brotherly Love All-Star Tour productions in 2008.^[7]

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

Discography

As leader:

• 1966 - Bagpipe Blues
• 1967 - Scotch & Soul
• 1968 - A Tribute to Courage
• 1970 - King/Queens (bagpipes; with Nadi Qamar, mamlukembia and Madagascar harp; and instrumental ensemble composed of Richard Tee, piano; Eric Gale, guitar; Chuck Rainey, electric bass guitar; Jimmy Johnson, drum; Montego Joe [Sanders], conga)
• 1972 - Re-Creation of the Gods
• 1998 - Brotherly Love (first NAm CD; Tartan Pride label; Peter Amahl, drums; Tony Cesarano, guitar; produced by Ralph Stevenson, Jr.)
• 2000 - The Pied Piper of Jazz (compilation of Atlantic tracks, 1965-70)
• 2005 - Sustain (his musical testimony with Messiah Harley, trumpet; Emmanuel Thompson, drums; Joshua Yudkin, piano and Hammond organ; Keno Speller, percussion; released by Discograph, France)

Retrospective:

• 2006 - Courage: The Atlantic Recordings (Rhino Handmade - Limited edition of 3,000 copies)

With Laurie Anderson:

• 1982 - Big Science (bagpipe on "Sweaters")

With Herbie Mann:

• 1967 - The Wailing Dervishes (on "Flute Bag")

With Sonny Rollins:

• 1974 - The Cutting Edge (on "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot")

With The Roots:

• 1995 - Do You Want More?!!!??!

With Sonny Stitt:

• 1967 - Deuces Wild (tenor saxophone and bagpipes)

Films

• 2008 - Pipes of Peace: Rufus Harley. 2008. DVD video 1 videodisc (53 min.) : sd., col., ; 4 3/4 in.

See also

• List of nontraditional bagpipe usage

References

External links

• Rufus Harley biography from Hip Wax
• Pipes of Peace, Rufus Harley documentary