Winard Harper

Hiram Winard Harper (born June 4, 1962 in Baltimore) is an American jazz drummer.

Career

Harper played in the 1980s with Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin, and with Betty Carter for four years. While working with Carter he met Wycliffe Gordon, with whom Harper would collaborate repeatedly.

From 1988 to 1993 he worked with his brother, trumpeter Philip Harper, in the group The Harper Brothers, alongside Justin Robinson, Javon Jackson, Walter Blanding, Kiyoshi Kitagawa, Stephen Scott, Kevin Hays, Michael Bowie, and Nedra Wheeler.

After the dissolution of the Harper brothers, Winard recorded several albums as a leader. In the early 2000s he worked with his sextet and performed at Lincoln Center in New York City. He played with Avery Sharpe in 2008. He leads the group Jeli Posse.

Discography

• Be Yourself (Epicure, 1994)
• Tete Montoliu en el San Juan (1996)
• Trap Dancer (HighNote, 1998)
• Winard (Savant, 1999)
• Faith with Carrie Smith (Savant, 2000)
• A Time for the Soul (Savant, 2003)
• Come into the Light (Savant, 2004)
• Make it Happen (Piadrum, 2006)
• Coexist (Jazz Legacy, 2012)

With Etta Jones

• Reverse the Charges (Muse, 1992)
• At Last (Muse, 1995)