Rufus Harley

Rufus Harley was jazz's first bagpiper, singlehandedly transforming a droning, unwieldy instrument associated almost exclusively with Celtic traditions into a soulful and deeply spiritual element of the modern jazz lexicon. Born May 20, 1936, in Raleigh, NC, Harley spent the majority of his childhood in Philadelphia, where he studied saxophone and flute and at 18 made his professional debut behind bandleader Mickey Collins. Like much of his generation, his life was irrevocably altered by the November 22, 1963, assassination of President John F. Kennedy, but Harley was particul...