{"id":5500,"date":"2023-01-05T16:11:13","date_gmt":"2023-01-05T22:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=5500"},"modified":"2023-01-15T22:03:12","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T04:03:12","slug":"singing-billy-harper-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/singing-billy-harper-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Singing Through the Horn: A Conversation with Billy Harper (Part Two)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We continue our conversation with the great Billy Harper by discussing the beginning of his professional career in New York, his work with Lee Morgan and Gil Evans, the representation of Black artists in popular culture, and his compositional process. You can check out part one of the interview here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PostGenre: A little earlier, you mentioned musicians leaving Texas after they graduated from college. Where did most of these musicians go?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Billy Harper: Most went to California. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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PG: You went to New York. Why not California like so many others?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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BH: It was the music. My uncle had me listening to jazz music when I was little, and all those musicians I listened to were in New York. I knew that was the place I had to go to develop further in the music. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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PG: So, you moved to New York in 1966. In those days, the New York metro area had about eleven times the population of the Houston metro area. It must have been quite an adjustment. Is it true that on only your second day in New York someone robbed you of everything you had, except for your horn?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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BH: [Laughing] <\/em>Oh, you heard that one, huh? Yeah, it is true. I guess that was my introduction to New York. It was a very raw place. It was a jungle of sorts, and I had to adjust. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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