PHILIP HARPER
"JAZZ MUSIC - Music of youth, music of love which creates a heart of truth"
PHILIP HARPER (Baltimore, 1965) started playing trumpet when he was ten years old under tutorage of his older brother, Danny. Later he studied at Hartt School of Music with Jackie McLean.
At the age of 18 Philip moved to New York, where he started working and recording extensively, with such musicians as “Little” Jimmy Scott, Jimmy McGriff, Betty Carter, Etta Jones, Harry “Sweets” Edison, Bill Cosby and Cedar Walton.
Between the years 1986 and 1988 he was a member of Art Blakey´s Jazz Messengers, with whom he made several live recordings.
After leaving the Messengers he formed a group with his brother, drummer Winard Harper.
The Harper Brothers toured throughout the world and made several successful albums for Polygram/Verve. Philip Harper has made over 50 recordings, both as leader – his solo albums “Soulful Sin” and “The Thirteenth Moon” on Muse Records – and as a sideman, which has earned him number one position on numerous jazz play lists and critic polls.
In the past years Philip has been living in Europe as well as in the USA, playing with Benny Golson, Cedar Walton and the Mingus Bigband. With the latter he is currently touring the globe.

TOURDATES 2021
February 20th (Sat) Philip Harper Quintet, live stream, Smalls NYC
TOURDATES 2020
November 28th (Sat) Philip Harper Quintet, live@Smalls 5 & 7 pm, NYC
October 17th (Sat) Ralph Peterson & The Messenger Legacy Onward&Upward.
Live stream The Side Door Jazz Club @the Old Lyme Inn, Connecticut
August 22nd (Sat) Philip Harper Quintet, live stream Smalls NYC
February 3rd (Mon) Mingus Mondays, Jazz Standard NYC
February 1st (Sat) Philip Harper Quintet, Smalls (After Hours), NYC
January 17th (Fri) Spigame Big Band Music with Victor Jones @The Cutting Room, NYC
January 13th (Mon) Mingus Mondays, Jazz Standard, NYC
January 6th (Mon) Mingus Mondays, Jazz Standard, NYC
TOURDATES 2019
December 29th (Sun) Café Olivier 4-7 pm, Leiden, The Netherlands
December 15th (Sun) De Twee Spieghels 4-7 pm, Leiden, The Netherlands
December 13th (Fri) Hotel Indigo 5-7 pm, The Hague, The Netherlands
November 30st (Sat) Swing Bar, Conegliano, Italy
November 29th (Fri) Hotel Laurin, Bolzano, Italy
November 28th (Thu) Conegliano Veneto, Italy
November 22nd (Fri) Taverna Visconti, Milano, Italy
November 19th (Tue) Cantine dell Arena, Verona, Italy
November 17th (Sun) Pavlov, The Hague, The Netherlands
November 7th (Thu) Syndicaat, The Hague, The Netherlands
November 3rd (Sun) Fascinating Jazz, Zoetermeer, The Netherlands
November 1st (Fri) Mingus Big Band, Triennale Teatro dell’Arte, Milan, Italy
October 31st (Thu) Mingus Big Band, Jazzonzet Festival Lausanne / Salle Paderewski, Lausanne, Switzerland
October 30th (Wed) Mingus Big Band, Cultuurcentrum Zwaneberg, Heist-op-den-Be
October 29th (Tue) Mingus Big Band, Istrian National Theatre, Pula, Croatia
October 27th (Sun) Mingus Big Band, Kombank dvorana, Belgrade, Serbia
October 26th (Sat) Mingus Big Band, Ronnie Scott’s, London UK
October 25th (Fri) Mingus Big Band, Ronnie Scott’s, London UK
October 24th (Thu) Mingus Big Band, Ronnie Scott’s, London UK
October 23rd (Wed) Mingus Big Band, Ronnie Scott’s, London UK
October 22nd (Tue) Mingus Big Band, Ronnie Scott’s, London UK
October 21st (Mon) Mingus Big Band, Ronnie Scott’s, London UK
September 26th (Thu) Philip Harper, Jazz Cafe NYC, 155 5th Ave, Brooklyn NY 11217 (https://www.jazzcafe.nyc/live-shows)
September 21st (Sat) Daahoud Salim Quintet, Generations Jazz Festival 2019, Theater Orpheus Apeldoorn, The Netherlands
JAZZ MESSENGERS Tribute – Tour Japan 2019
July 4th (Thu) Amigo! Iruma, Saitama
July 5th (Fri) Pit Inn Shinjuku, Tokyo
July 6th (Sat) Musashino Bunka Hall Musashino, Tokyo
July 9th (Tue) Kitsune Kubo Isesaki, Gunma
July 10th (Wed) Warm Stone Nagai, Yamagata
July 11th (Thu) Bar Chic Tsuruoka, Yamagata
July 12th (Fri) The Cat Walk Akita, Akita
July 13th (Sat) Noshiro Bunka Hall, Noshiro city
July 14th (Sun) Jazz Inn Relaxin’, Sendai, Miyagi
July 17th (Wed) Morishita Bunka Hall Kohtohku, Tokyo
July 18th (Thu) Star Eyes Nagoya, Nagoya
July 19th (Fri) Left Alone Ashiya, Hyogo
July 20st (Sat) Hall Matsuyama, Ehime
July 21st (Sun) Tokyo Daiichi Hotel Shimonoseki Yamaguchi
July 22nd (Mon) Back Stage, Fukuoka
July 23rd (Tue) Cinema take Saga, Saga
July 25th (Thu) Royal Hall Osaka, Osaka
July 26th (Fri) Life Time Shizuoka, Shizuoka
July 27th (Sat) Ohga Hall Karuizawa Jazz Festival, Karuizawa
July 28th (Sun) Milkywave Kawagoe, Saitama
July 29th (Mon) Komorebi Hall Nishitokyo, Tokyo
July 30th (Tue) Cotton Club Kohfu, Yamanashi
July 31st (Wed) B flat Akasaka, Tokyo
March 14th (Thu) Philip Harper Trio, Jazz In De Kamer, Leiden, The Netherlands
March 18th (Mon) NYCTG “The Great American Songbook”, De Oosterpoort Groningen, The Netherlands
March 21st (Thu) Philip Harper Quintet “Lee-Way” (2), De Regentenkamer in het Koorenhuis, Den Haag, The Netherlands
March 23rd (Sat) Cotton Club, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
March 27th (Wed) Stadsbrasserie, Rotterdam, The Netherlands


“Let my children have music! Let them hear live music. Not noise. My children! You do what you want with your own!”
— Charles Mingus