Billy Harper, presented by Obasi Akoto

Obasi Akoto presents Billy Harper at Takoma Station, with Greg Murphy (keyboard) Obasi Akoto (bass) and Eric Kennedy (drums)

This iconic 81-year old saxophonist spent years playing with Art Blakey, Lee Morgan and Max Roach, earning praise for his sax’s piercing cry. One of the last standing from his generation, Harper is still revered in the jazz world as both saxophonist and composer.

The drummer Billy Hart, who plays with Harper in the all-star hard bop group the Cookers, said Harper’s music reflects the divine. “I’ve known Harper for 50 years, and we don’t even talk that much,” he said. “I don’t know exactly what he believes, but I can hear it. It’s rhapsodic. He’s praying on the bandstand.”

"As a composer, he bears comparison with more famous musicians like Wayne Shorter and McCoy Tyner. Some of his compositions seem to unfold across vast landscapes, majestic and haunting, as if…