Customer Reviews

Courage: The Atlantic Recordings

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This is Jazz music. The man, a true diplomat of the genre who revolutionized the bagpipe. He visited public schools and distributed miniature liberty bells on foreign tours. He busked in the streets of Philadelphia so others could enjoy his unique aesthete and sound.
With respect to the music on this fine release from Rhino Handmade, I invite anyone who can get their hands on this rare, comprehensive, double disc set to listen to how he transforms an instrument you thought you knew the sound of. Amazing. At times poignant: "Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child" & "A Tribute to Courage (JFK)". At others times totally swinging: "Feeling Good", "Sunny", "Scotch & Soul" & "Eight Miles High".
This man was no joke. He led sessions for Atlantic. He played with Dexter Gordon, Sonny Stitt, Sonny Rollins And Herbie Mann. He had the admiration of John Coltrane who himself bought a set of bagpipes because of Harley's sound. He stayed true to his own unique style and shared his spiritual understanding of music with anyone who would listen: "The drone uses the ancient vibrations of the universe. Bagpipes represent the ultimate sound of philosophy because it sustains. It brings the yin and the yang together, the male and female."
For another great release try "Re-Creation of the Gods" and the documentary DVD about his life: "Pipes of Peace".

If you're looking for some stud playing bagpipes like there's no tomorrow, this is not the place. You can find plenty of Celt/Scots or early music players' recordings for that. Harley is interesting because he had the guts to try something that was never done before, or much since, and that was to apply bagpipes to jazz. This kind of experimentation is completely lost on most music today and that's too bad. A friend who has acquaintance with some notable pipers says they ridicule Harley since his tone was slightly off, he held the pipes over the wrong shoulder, etc etc. True, but he was the first ever at what he did and you can't take that away from him. This set is more than complete...a shorter "Best Of" might be the better introduction to his work. By the way, he was not a bad sax player...as heard on some examples here.