OT Rufus Harley

benwalker · Post by **benwalker** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 2:34 pm

Has anyone heard this chap. I'd love to know what he's like on GHB. Not conventional I would guess?

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 2:36 pm

Search Google for him, you'll find some stuff.

Looks like he had 15 minutes of fame in the 1960s. Jazz. Taught John Coltrane to play the GHPs. I haven't heard him, but i always get a kick from the pictures.

Here's a good article:
http://citypaper.net/articles/011801/mus.rufus.shtml

I'm pretty sure he's still alive and gigging, mostly in the Philly area. There used to be a Web site, but i can't find it anymore.

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 2:43 pm

If this information is correct:
http://www.23cafe.com/rufus_harley.htm

you can find him tuesday nights in the 23rd Street Cafe in Philly.

benwalker · Post by **benwalker** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 2:52 pm

Jim McGuire · Post by **Jim McGuire** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 4:51 pm

Rufus Harley LPs turn up on eBAY all the time:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... eName=WDVW

djm · Post by **djm** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 5:16 pm

I think Royce has a sample: http://home.comcast.net/~pmlerwick/wsb/ ... ite1008.ra

djm

fancypiper · Post by **fancypiper** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 7:21 pm

That link (http://home.comcast.net/~pmlerwick/wsb/ ... ite1008.ra) uses an older, unsupported codec on my Linux box.

feadogin · Post by **feadogin** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 9:59 pm

I love Rufus Harley! They play him every once in a while on our local jazz station, KCSM. Obviously, he doesn't have the range that most jazz players have available, but amazingly enough, it does sound like jazz.

Apparently he is quite an interesting character, too...someone showed me an interview with him once, in which he talks about the spiritual aspect of playing the bagpipes. I don't know about that, though. :roll:

Justine

AlanB · Post by **AlanB** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 1:56 am

feadogin wrote:
Apparently he is quite an interesting character, too...someone showed me an interview with him once, in which he talks about the spiritual aspect of playing the bagpipes. I don't know about that, though. :roll:

Justine

Look at the international history of bagpipes. They are the chosen instrument for war, dancing, cleansing (of bad house spirits), they are used in rituals of life (including death) they've been persecuted, ridiculed, etc., etc., Theys about the mooost spiritual instrument out there. You can make people crazy, you can make em happy, you can evoke atmospheres, make people weep.. Hell you can even rock n roll.. I'm with Rufus.

Alan

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 5:40 am

Does he always play with the bag under his right arm?

AaronMalcomb · Post by **AaronMalcomb** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 9:39 am

Rufus has little to no street cred among the general GHB community. I don't know how he is viewed among his jazz peers. I'm not much of a fan of any jazz after Coltrane so between that and being a post Willie Ross GHB piper I'm in no real position to comment.

Though Rufus' posture isn't that great there are plenty of fine pipers who play right-armed.

Cheers,
Aaron

brianc · Post by **brianc** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 9:52 am

AaronMalcomb wrote:Rufus has little to no street cred among the general GHB community.

............

Why? Because he doesn't play dress-up and march in a straight line with the rest of the "GHB community" ?

I'm sure he's lying awake at night with worry over this.

:roll:

brianc · Post by **brianc** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 9:57 am

djm wrote:I think Royce has a sample:

That sounds an awful lot like someone playing UPs...

Calum · Post by **Calum** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 10:43 am

To be honest, I just find RH's playing silly - I got sat down with an LP not so long ago, and listened to the whole thing through a 6.0% strength filter. If I want to listen to jazz on the GHB, I'll listen to Fraser Fifield, who can actually (a) pull it off and (b) tune his pipes.

Brian, I see your point, but if any uilleann piper said to you that they were going to play the uilleann pipes, but they weren't gonna learn any of those crans or cuts or rolls or any of that stuff, because 'it just gets in the way of the music, man' or whatever, I imagine you'd have about as much time to listen to their playing as I do to listen to Rufus. And I've given him a lot more than most would.

The evening concluded with a ceremonial destruction of the offending LP.

Cheers,
Calum

j dasinger · Post by **j dasinger** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 10:43 am

brianc wrote:
AaronMalcomb wrote:Rufus has little to no street cred among the general GHB community.
............

Why? Because he doesn't play dress-up and march in a straight line with the rest of the "GHB community" ?

I'm sure he's lying awake at night with worry over this.

:roll:

Wow, Brian. That was a really ignorant and uninformed statement you just made. Congratulations on your troll of the day award.

james