Culture House Jazz

04/05/2026

12/28/2025

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Saxophonist 𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗽𝗲𝗿, on The Cookers plan to perform at the Kennedy Center on Dec. 31, 2025. Harper is a former band member.

𝗞𝗶𝗽 𝗗𝗲 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻
No Billy Harper?

𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗽𝗲𝗿 (from a post on Jazz Stage)
That should not even be a question.

I would never even consider performing in a venue bearing a name (and being controlled by the kind of board) that represents overt racism and deliberate destruction of African American music and culture. The same music I devoted my life to creating and advancing.

In fact, I am much more proud to have my name associated with the integration movement in Texas, and anti-racist activist organizations like Jazz and People's Movement, Universal Jazz Coalition, Black Artists Collective and Strata East, just to name a few.

The board running the center at this time, as well as the name displayed on the building itself represents a mentality and practices I always stood against. And still do, today more than ever.

And it is not just about me. After all the years I spent working with some of the greatest heroes of the anti-racism fight like Max Roach and Randy Weston and Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Stanley Cowell, I know they would be turning in their graves to see me stand on a stage under such circumstances and betray all we fought for, and sacrificed for, but also betraying all the listeners that believed (and still do) in our cause and our music.

Photo by Adrien H. Tillmann

Jazz Stage: More than just the music.

Billy Harper Max Roach Max Roach Jazz Houston Strata-East Records

12/28/2025

11/15/2025

Miles Davis once described tenor saxophonist George Coleman as “a hell of a musician,” saying he “played everything almost perfectly.”

And he meant it — Coleman’s sound, technique and reading were on another level. But still…

Behind the scenes, Miles was imagining a different voice for his new 1960s band. He’d been trying to hire Wayne Shorter for more than a year, and Coleman ended up holding the chair until Shorter was finally ready to leave the Jazz Messengers.

That puts Coleman in a fascinating place in Miles’s story: the brilliant, rock-solid saxophonist who helped shape the transitional band of Seven Steps to Heaven, My Funny Valentine and Four & More… while Miles quietly planned the next version of the group.

Listen to those records today and it’s striking how strong Coleman sounds — powerful, lyrical, harmonically fearless. He wasn’t replaced because he lacked anything. Miles simply had a different future in mind.

If you want to hear why so many musicians still talk about George Coleman with such respect, start with My Funny Valentine or Maiden Voyage (link in comments). His solos are studies in clarity, logic and drive.
[📸 Photo by Brian McMillen at Brian McMillen Photography]