Leroy Harper Jr., an esteemed saxophonist who enjoyed a notable tenure with the legendary James Brown, graces the Musicians Reveal podcast for an enlightening dialogue with host Joe Kelley. The discussion delves into Leroy's extensive musical journey, including his leadership of the band Funky Leroy Harper Jr's All Starz and the vibrant atmosphere of performances at the Star Tavern in Little River, South Carolina, which he transformed into a hub for musicians. Furthermore, we explore the intricate dynamics of collaboration and artistry, shedding light on the challenges and triumphs of performing alongside a titan like James Brown. Notably, Leroy reflects on the profound impact of his experiences, emphasizing the essence of creating music that resonates with both musicians and audiences alike. This conversation serves as a testament to the enduring spirit of funk and the rich tapestry of musical heritage that Leroy continues to cultivate.

Leroy Harper Jr., a prominent saxophonist who notably performed with the legendary James Brown for over fifteen years, graces the Musicians Reveal podcast with Joe Kelley for an intimate and comprehensive dialogue that illuminates his illustrious career. The conversation unfolds with Harper reflecting on his formative years in Aiken, South Carolina, where his musical journey began under the encouragement of his mother. His initial foray into music was marked by a serendipitous choice of the saxophone, a decision driven by the instrument's resemblance to the guitar he initially wished to play. Harper's narrative is a testament to the transformative power of music, as he recounts the evolution of his artistry and the myriad influences that shaped his sound, including the iconic funk and jazz musicians that inspired him throughout his career.

The podcast delves into Harper's experiences as a bandleader of Funky Leroy Harper Jr.'s All Starz, exploring the dynamics of leading a band in today's music landscape. He elaborates on the vibrant music scene at the Star Tavern in Little River, South Carolina, where he has created a welcoming environment for musicians to collaborate and showcase their talents. Harper's recounting of his time with James Brown offers listeners a rare glimpse into the rigorous yet exhilarating life of a touring musician, filled with anecdotes of performances, spontaneous jam sessions, and the camaraderie shared among band members. Furthermore, he shares insights into his approach to music-making, emphasizing the importance of creativity and collaboration over mere performance, encapsulated in his mantra of transitioning from 'playing music' to 'making music.' This episode serves not only as a chronicle of Harper's personal journey but also as an embodiment of the rich tapestry of American music history, celebrating the legacies of those who paved the way for contemporary musicians.

Takeaways:

• Leroy Harper Jr. shares that his musical journey began in seventh grade, influenced by his mother, leading him to choose saxophone over guitar.
• During the podcast, Leroy discusses the evolution of his band, Funky Leroy Harper Jr's All Starz, emphasizing its role as a hub for local musicians.
• Leroy reflects on his extensive experience playing with James Brown, highlighting the challenges of learning cues without sheet music during performances.
• The podcast reveals Leroy's aspirations for the future, including plans to create new music and celebrate his 50th year in the industry next year.

This is Funky Leroy Harper and you're watching Musicians Reveal with Joe Kelly keeping it funky.

Welcome to Musicians Reveal.

We have an extremely talented musician, multi instrumentalist.

He is also, he was the saxophonist with James Brown for over 15 years.

He leads his own band, 4 Funky Leroy Harper's All Stars.

And hey, we're happy to say Leroy Harper is in the house.

How you doing, my friend?

Good to be in the house.

Another day above the ground.

Happy Mother's Day.

Yeah, happy Mother's Day to all the mothers as we record.

And let me, let me ask you something.

We talked off air, you didn't have a gig last night, but you, you stay awful busy with the gigs in your area, right?

Oh, yes, I do.

Yeah.

Tell us about the Star Tavern, which is our friends Lee, excuse me, Elliot Levine and Lynn Grissett are part of your band.

Yes, yes.

That's where I met Elliot at.

And I got a divorce probably about 12, 13 years ago, and I moved down to Myrtle beach from Wilmington, North Carolina.

Okay.

Just because I was working down here all the time and saved me a drive and I was only an hour away from my two daughters and probably after about three years down here, a drummer that I was playing with named Jeff Sampson, really good drummer from New York, he kept inviting me on Tuesday nights up to the Star Tavern.

And so I finally got up there.

It was about a half an hour from my house, so it took me a couple of months to get down Tuesdays.

So.

Wow.

So it quickly became like a little home base for me.

And then a really good friend of mine, DJ Flame on, who used to be with me, his mother recently died and he ended up moving back to town and we, he convinced me to start, put a band back together.

And I did.

And I told owner Ron Johnson, I was like, give me your worst night and I'll build it up.

So he gave me Monday nights and I started building up Monday nights, not really doing a jam session, but selective sit ins.

And it quickly became a place that whenever musicians came into town, they checked in there first.

Kind of like a, you know, kind of like Ellis island for musicians.

You know, get to town, come in, sit in, play, get to meet other guys, get a gig.

Yeah, yeah.

I was going to make the comment, but you, you explained it right there.

The Monday night, usually we're in upstate New York and Saratoga Springs, but when we live down close to New York City, when we lived in Connecticut, it's like, you wouldn't think a Monday night would be hopping, but if people go to YouTube and check out Leroy Harper's All Star Band and you'll see the place is jumping and the music's great.

And it's a success for you, right?

Yes, very much.

Eight years and counting, working on IVF straight.

Wow.

So you, you also have Elliot Levine on keys.

Always, you know.

Great.

Yes, I do.

When I.

When I can catch him.

He's a moving target.

He's all, you're on the move.

But when I get him.

Yes.

Yeah.

And Lynn Grissett playing sax and trumpet as well in your band.

And the Star Tavern, where is it located exactly?

It's in Little River, South Carolina, Right in the heart of Little river on Highway 17.

Okay.

And you, do you play any other nights there or just the Monday nights?

On Tuesday nights, I play saxophone with the owners band called the Mercenaries.

And then one or two Thursdays I play with my roommate, Keith Atwood.

His rock and roll band called Atwood does a lot of Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and I usually end up playing either organ on keyboards, backup guitar for him on keyboards.

I seen you guys work.

Maggot brain into the set.

Yes.

Yeah, yeah.

My guitar player, my other guitar player, Don Johnson, brought that one to the set.

Wow.

Yeah, that's room to stretch on that one, right?

Yes, yes.

So when he lets me.

When he lets you.

Yeah, that's right.

Well, you're the boss.

It's your band, right?

Kind of, sort of, yeah.

So let's go back to the early days.

Where exactly were you born and raised?

I was born in Aiken, South Carolina, which is about 20 miles outside of Augusta, Georgia into South Carolina, and about 40 miles from Columbia, South Carolina, right off I20 and my parents moved me right down the road to Graniteville, South Carolina, and pretty much spent the rest of my formative years in Graniteville.

So Aiken, that's.

That's a big horse town, right?

Yes.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I ran into a guy flying from Albany to Vegas and he was talking.

He was headed down to Aiken.

Yeah.

Yes.

They bring their horses from up north down there to train during the winter.

Right, exactly.

Gravitating towards music.

I know we know you as a saxophonist, but you play keyboards as well when you were a little kid.

What got you into music?

Well, to be honest, what got me into music was my mother.

When I was in the seventh grade and when the local band, band thing, sign up came up, she signed me up and they asked me what I wanted to play and I wanted to play guitar and the.

Whatever you call it, the instrument.

He was like, oh, well, we don't have guitars in high school band.

So I picked the saxophone.

Just purely because it hung around your neck like a guitar.

Right.

Were you diligent practicing?

No.

So I'm not gonna ask you advice for young buddy musicians on that.

Right.

Practice.

My advice.

Practice.

Right, right.

Practice, make perfect.

I was.

Yeah, go ahead.

At that age, I was a budding NFL running back at 125 pounds and 5 foot 3.

But you could have been a superstar, right?

Oh, definitely.

Yeah.

Who were you, who were you rooting for back then?

NFL wise.

NFL wise, probably the Jets.

Oh, okay.

I'm a best friend that his favorite team was the Steelers, so I had to root for them also.

Right, right.

Well, hopefully the jets, they had the year one of these days.

1969 I think was their year.

Yeah, so.

So you found out the NFL wasn't your calling and you decided to pursue music as, as a full time effort.

Yes.

Okay, tell, tell us about that to really get down and maybe get into some bands.

Well, after playing for one year, I wanted to quit after my first year, but my mother said play, play it one more year.

So I gave it one more year.

And during that course I hurt my knee playing football.

So I realized I didn't go.

I wasn't out there to get hurt.

So I went straight to music and played in, I guess middle school band, you want to call it.

And when I turned 15, I was on the track team and I ran for a little while and that may I joined my first band.

There was a band called Exit Enterprises in town and it was basically a bunch of grown men and one college trumpet player.

Then my best friend that he was a year older than me, he was 16 and he was on trombone and the trumpet player was going off to college and they wanted a replacement for him.

So at the time I was playing barishax in the band.

So I showed up to the audition with the bari sax and everybody in the band immediately laughed at me because obviously a bari sax is not a replacement for a trumpet.

So luckily I had a bunch of cousins in the band.

So I passed audition just because I had a bunch of cousins in the band.

Right.

And I proceeded to the guy in the band, the guy that was over the band, he got me an alto after I was.

At first I was just, barring I was born horns, just to go to rehearsals and do gigs.

And once he figured I got.

I was cutting it.

He wouldn't bought me a horn and he would take it out my pay.

But after my very first gig, I knew that music was what I wanted to do.

Very first song, I knew it, I was hooked.

What kind of music was the band playing back then?

Funk band.

Right up my alley.

Yeah.

And like I told my roommate back then, one, you had to.

The band had to audition to get a gig.

You had to go in the club in the middle of the day, set your whole PA up, basically do a whole set.

And back then, if you didn't get the gig, then the club owner would tell you what you needed.

If you were close enough, he would tell you what you needed to do for him to hire you.

And probably the number one requirement back there that doesn't exist today was yet to play the number one record.

Okay.

Period.

Well, yeah.

Right.

So you had one of the week, if not definitely of the month.

Yeah.

Were you playing like three sets a night?

Was it still kind of like that back in those days?

I think so.

Pretty sure, right.

It was either two or three.

How about, you know, each.

Oh, go ahead.

You go ahead.

Oh, I was just saying probably each venue had, you know, their own program that they requested, but it was a big band, full horn section, two guitar players, two lead singers that both played percussion, drums, bass and keyboards and had a female singer and two DJs.

So it was definitely a legit funk band.

And people would.

Bands like that would have to put on a show, right?

There wasn't.

No.

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Lights, camera and action.

Right.

Otherwise you're not going to have too many gigs, Right?

Yeah, exactly.

Club owners were not messing around back then.

Right.

How about yourself?

Going to see concerts at that age, other bands.

Do you remember maybe a couple of your first.

Well, a lot of the times we would stop, like after I gig at clubs and me and the trombone player, we wouldn't be able to go on the clubs.

We'd have to stay on the bus.

Even though we just played all night in another club, we'd have to stay on the bus.

So we.

Until I got out of high school, I really didn't see a whole lot of other bands.

Every now and then we'd do a show.

It's an outdoor show, you know, to general public.

I see bands then.

And I had a cousin that played bass for Leroy Lloyd and the Swinging Dukes.

So I got a chance to sneak in a couple of their concerts, you know, when I was young, before I was playing.

Right, right.

Yeah.

Nothing beat that right?

Yeah, yeah.

As far as going to concerts and then moving further into your professional career before James Brown and everything, were you doing recordings as well and then playing.

Live in high school?

Not a lot of recordings, but my very first live concert, my oldest sister took me to it.

It was a Mother's finest concert, and Chuck Brown opened up for him.

For them.

That had to be something.

Yeah.

We got there right as Chuck Brown was doing his last song, Busting Loose.

Then it went right in the Mother's Finest.

So still to this day, two of my favorite bands.

Yeah, Mother's finest still.

Still touring, right?

Yes.

Yeah.

And Chuck's son's carrying on the.

The tradition.

Exactly.

Yeah.

My.

My first show was Stevie Wonder and Gil Scott Heron, and my second was your boss, James Brown and Wilson Pickett.

Oh, those are two good.

Yeah.

I.

You know, back then, I was.

I was not as appreciative of, like, the greatness I was witness.

And I met James because I worked in radio and went there after my radio shift and met him backstage in the dressing room, him and Wilson Pickett.

And James had his hair up in curlers.

They were.

They were doing two shows that night, so.

Yeah.

Great times.

Yeah.

I found out that being with James Brown the first time, I kind of took it for granted because I grew up in the area.

Right.

Yeah.

And.

And when I first started playing, because you had to.

It was the mid-70s, and you had to be playing all the songs that were on Billboard funk charts or soul charts.

And at that time, he really didn't have, you know, he didn't really have any hits on the charts.

So we.

We didn't really do any James Brown, and we just.

In the Cameo and all that other stuff, you know, Parliament Funkadelic and Earth One and Fire.

Right.

So when I actually got with James Brown, I really hadn't played much of his music as a musician.

I even really checked it out.

Yeah.

What was the.

The track that you got into to get an audition with him?

Well, for the audition, it was kind of weird because they.

I had actually.

My brother came out to California and trying to think.

I think it was Arsenio hall show or one of those shows.

He had got us tickets to there.

And I went there, and it was the one with.

I think David Wolf was the music director.

Michael Wolf.

Michael Wolf.

He's been on the show recently.

Yeah.

And Starr was the keyboard player, and I remember giving her a business card and she signed it, star, good luck with your music future.

And when we got back to my Friend's house.

My friend told me she.

His wife told me that I had a phone call.

James Brown office had called.

So I called the office the next day and they told me that they wanted me to fly to Augusta for audition.

Well, the trick was I had to buy my own airplane ticket from California.

Yeah, they're not cheap.

So I get off the plane and his manager picks me up at airport, who I knew from.

From the area.

He's good friends with my brother and takes me to the audition.

Well, when I get to audition, they're already rehearsing the whole band's dad.

And then mid rehearsal and I come in and they introduce me to Brown.

And I had the Jerry curl and Danny Ray, his.

His MC looks at me, say, son, you're gonna have to cut your hair.

Yeah.

And when I came through the door, James Brown looked at me and said, oh, I thought you were Prince.

If Lynn, if you're listening, that's for you.

And so I take my horn out.

They introduced me to the band.

I take my horn out.

Nobody says a word to me.

There's no sheet music, no nothing.

Wow.

And they just continue playing songs.

I was like, well, I said to myself, well, if nobody's gonna say anything to me, I guess I get to play whatever I want to play.

Right.

And that's best case scenario for me.

And.

And at the time, I only knew actually one song by him.

And that was I feel good, but because everybody does it in the Kia C.

I knew it in the Kia seat.

Oh, okay.

And that was the only tune I knew.

And I played.

I was playing the horror parts.

I don't know how I was playing it, but at least now today I feel like I didn't miss nothing.

Yeah.

And he pointed to me and gave me a solo.

And when he gave me a solo, he stopped rehearsal for a minute.

And everybody was hooping and hollering and clapping and stuff.

So that's when I said to myself, well, I guess I must pass the audition.

Yeah.

Who was leading the horn section back then?

Holly Farris.

He was the trumpet player.

He was the band leader and the leader of the horn section.

Okay, so it was official.

You were.

You were part of the group.

Was.

What was the sign?

Did James come up to you or you kind of?

Well, I guess they were all yucking it up after my solo.

And they're like, oh, you sound like maybe.

Even though I don't.

Don't play like him.

I like it good enough.

Who?

Who?

And I was like, back then, yeah, it Was kind of mind blowing because that year Maceo was the jazz musician of the year and Playboy.

So I was like, got to replace that.

Okay, we'll see.

Yeah, that.

That's big shoes to fill.

And yes, definitely can't feel them, but no, you can occupy them at least.

Exactly.

Yeah.

How many horns throughout the.

Your touring years were there in the.

In the band?

On average?

We ended up with three for the last.

Probably.

We did a video in Pittsburgh.

Japanese did it.

It was a Japanese production.

Okay.

And I want to say that was 99.

We had seven horns at that point in time.

That's the most we ever had.

And shortly after that, he start letting horn players go.

And that's when I said to myself, because I probably had a crappy kind of attitude about playing at the time, and I was like, oh, man, you better start playing because he's letting horn players go.

So I got more serious about my job then.

And so I made the last three of a cut.

It was me, Holly and Jeff Watkins at the end.

At the end.

And probably from when I started with him, it varied from five to seven.

Okay.

Yeah.

We had Waldo Weathers on.

Great guy before a few years, a few months back.

I'm sorry.

Yeah.

So a lot.

A lot of.

Lot of touring, I'm sure.

Do you have a favorite tour?

If there was a name for a tour, was it all just a constant doing shows?

Two of my favorite places is Argentina and Japan.

Oh, why?

Why?

So Japan for the just ultimate hospitality by the promoters and fans, and Argentina just for the brotherhood of the musicians down there.

Right.

And hospitality that you get from the musicians.

So.

So during that time, were you doing any recording in the studio with James?

Yes, we did some recordings.

And at the actual one album he did.

The whole time I was in the band, I missed the session because I was living in California and they forgot to send my plane ticket.

Get me a plane ticket.

So they must have did the album in a day or two.

I don't.

I.

I wasn't there.

I can't remember how long it took them, but it must have been really quick because they didn't get me a ticket out.

The whole album was finished real quick.

That's a shame.

Yeah.

But the funny thing is, one of the songs, he actually called me for a solo and I don't play a note.

He calls me out by the name and they left it on the album.

Oh, well, right.

How do you.

Other album that was released that I played on was a Christmas album he did.

Might have been his Last Christmas Christmas album.

Right.

And it was produced by Derek Monk.

And he called me to record on the album.

And James Brown didn't know about it.

And when he.

When he found out, when he listened to it, he's like, oh, that's Leroy.

And he got mad at him for using his musicians.

Don't be using my musician, he told him.

Don't be using my musician.

Right.

And so.

But to Derek.

To Derek's.

Derek Monk's credit, he left every note I played on the whole album.

It was one song.

I was like, what you want me to do on this?

He's like, just play.

Play from beginning to end.

And I played from beginning to end.

And he left every note I played in.

In the song.

I was kind of amazed that one.

That he didn't have to erase me, much less have me play that much on a song.

Yeah.

So you got that to your historic resume.

Yeah, yeah.

And all the touring.

How do you think James Brown would adapt to current day?

With all the technology, you could record across the world in separate places.

Do you think he would have tried to do stuff like that or he wanted.

Still want to be in the studio with everybody?

Yeah, he.

He probably would have did it eventually.

Oh, okay.

Yeah.

He kind of predicted technology and resisted it all at the same time.

Okay.

Yeah.

How so?

With that resistance, I would say, like.

Say like back before you could video and video a concert straight to Facebook or YouTube, people would call people on their cell phone in the audience.

Right, right.

And they will hold it up just for the people to hear.

Yeah, Right.

But James Brown would have security go, go take all the cell phones because he was saying they were still in the show.

Yeah.

And uploading the show.

And that was years before you could actually do that, you know?

Yeah.

That's just one instance.

How is it as a performer, the feeling, I'm sure you see in the crowd, people got their phones up for a good portion of the show.

Is that distracting, or you just became used to stuff like that?

No, I think for me personally, I take it as a calling to be on your game every night as much as possible, because you're no longer in control of what's going out there about you.

Ah, okay.

Yep.

So if you got a very off night, somebody got around the whole world.

Yeah.

It's most likely somebody gonna pull their phone out.

Yeah, yeah, definitely.

Matter of fact, I got this one band I play in, and we got this one kind of super fan, and me and the band, band leader, we joke about her because she's the worst videographer in the world videos the most boring 30 seconds of the song and then it ends, Right?

Time is about to get exciting again.

She.

She's going with her heart, right?

She.

She.

Yes.

We love it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You know what's cool about people should check out Leroy Harper Jr.

And the All Stars.

The Funky Leroy Harper.

Just go to YouTube, Leroy Harper and his All Stars.

Funky Leroy Harper, and you'll see tons of videos up there.

I got to give you guys major compliment yourself.

You're in the crowd playing sax, a couple of your singers, you know, way in the crowd, and you could see the joy when you.

When you're coming out there to people's faces that, you know, they.

They love it.

How.

How did you incorporate that into your.

Your stage command?

Well, from way back, I always like having a microphone clipped on to my bell.

Okay.

And it just.

Because for me, certain notes you have to move to hit the way you want to hit them for me.

Right.

And I just like the freedom of not being.

Not having to stand like a statue and play in the microphone.

I like.

I like the freedom, I guess.

And then just the natural entertainer in me enjoys entertaining people, I guess the best way to put it.

So making it personable.

I love to make sure the people know that we're playing for them, not ourselves.

Right, Right.

Of all the songs that you play when you play covers, what would.

Off the top of your head, what would be the song you wish you had wrote yourself and recorded?

Always There about Ronnie Laws.

Oh, yeah.

You're a big Ronnie Laws fan, right?

Yes.

Yeah.

What did attract you to Ronnie Laws playing?

Well, the original band I was in at a certain point when I was still in high school, we got an older saxophone players.

Somebody, you know, grown man.

Right.

And he had this.

Now I know he's got like this real Wilton Felder kind of tone and that real space in between my notes.

Clean, super clean technique.

So at first he's like, ah, check out Grover Washington.

So he turned me on to Grover Washington.

Then a few months later, he was like, ah, check out Ronnie Laws.

So I checked out Ronnie Laws.

Then a few months later, he was building me up to Wilton Felder.

Okay.

And then I checked out Wilton Felder.

But for some reason, something about Ronnie Laws sound and phrasing always stuck with me and just always been my favorite.

Did you have a chance to meet him?

Actually, I did my very first tour.

I played keyboards with Stacy Ladisaw.

Oh, that's what I was going to ask you.

Tell us About Stacy Lattice on your affiliation.

Yeah.

So I was up in D.C.

and this is even before I played with James Brown.

I was up in D.C.

for a year.

Stevie Wonder had sat in with my band in.

In Columbia, S.C.

and he had invited us to his show.

And we checked out his show.

And about two weeks after his show, we got a letter from Stevie Wonders to my brother, because he was managing us at the time, said that Stevie Wonder wrote two songs for us.

He wanted us to record them.

Wow.

Well, at the time, he was doing the Mothers Against Drunk Driving tour and trying to.

And he was promoting the Martin Luther King birthday at that time.

So he was kind of super busy with that.

So everything kept getting put off, kept being put off.

And the big thing was he wanted his bass player, Nate, to produce us.

So we had to get this money together.

And I got the money together.

Once again, we gotta pay for everything.

And it end up just not ever happening.

And before the money ran out, at least.

And so end up band, end up kind of disbanding.

Lead singer, he end up.

He got killed.

And meanwhile, my brother was living in D.C.

and Stacy Ladisall was looking for a.

I'm not sure if she was looking for a saxophone player, keyboard player, but she picked this whole band except for the saxophone player.

And some kind of way, she ended up seeing a videotape of me, and she wanted me to join the band.

And I played keyboards.

And it was only one sax solo the whole show.

But I would play three songs, one to three songs to open the show for her.

And so we were touring and we were in St.

Louis, and we had this balcony back behind us.

And I didn't realize it, but Ronnie Laws was being booked by the same promoter.

So we was kind of.

Tours were kind of crossing path.

And one of his background singers had caught our show, and she had brought Ronnie Laws to our show just to hear me play.

Oh, wow.

And luckily, I didn't even know he was there the whole show until we did a bow at the end of the show.

And I turned around and the balcony was right behind us.

It was a club, and he was right there, front row on the balcony.

I was like, oh, my God, glad I just saw him.

My heart like to drop off my chest.

Right, right.

The cool thing is he ended up.

We ended up going to the bar and he bought me drinks and we sat down and talked.

Even though I can't remember one thing that we talked about.

Probably just because I was so blown away, but I was like, well, I Said to myself, well, you got something.

When your favorite saxophone players come to hear you, something's happening.

Yeah, I mean, that, that's a true honor for you.

When he makes time to definitely come, come right there.

So, you know, I saw Stacy Lattice.

She opened up for the Jacksons at Madison Square Garden.

You weren't on that tour, were you?

No.

Yeah, yeah.

So it was.

She had the short set, but she was cool.

I always liked her music.

Beautiful.

Beautiful soul and a beautiful family.

Yeah, that's right.

Yeah.

She.

She's going another path with a lot of different music and of course, gospel music.

Yep.

You've played.

You've.

You've been on the biggest stages in the world.

I mean, tv.

You played Arsenio hall, you mentioned.

Right.

You also.

The infamous Woodstock 99.

And the whole concert's up on.

On YouTube.

And you got a nice solo at the end calling you out.

Leroy.

Yes.

Yeah.

Hey, those solos, when he would call you out or another sax player, were you guys prepared?

Was it.

Or did he sometimes change it up in mid stretch?

Yeah, you were prepared.

You had your solos.

But he might change it up.

He might give it to somebody else on certain nights or whatever.

Oh, okay.

Like I was when I was in the band.

When I first joined the band, I was like the.

I guess what you call the principal soloist.

And then I quit for a couple of years and then that's when came back.

I had less solos, more money, and paid more money for me to solo less.

Oh, wow.

And Jeff Watkins, who.

Who say prayers for him, he had a stroke a couple of years ago.

He was the principal soloist.

Okay.

But I would get a few, you know, some nights I wouldn't get any.

Some nights I get a bunch, you know, but one.

Usually I get one or two.

But I.

I was.

I've never been like, worried about soloing kind of guy.

I just like being in the band one way or the other.

Being on stage, being a part of what's going on.

Was there a particular song out of all the James Brown catalog that was the most difficult for you as a sax player?

Horn parts or to solo over either or.

Yeah.

Well, the solo wise, the hardest thing at first, when I first got there, was the major minor element, you know, because you're sitting on one chord and you can play major or you can play minor, you know.

And like I said, I was not a super big.

All that ended soloing too much.

So probably never investigated that as much as most people.

Once I wrapped my mind around that and how to go in and out with the major mount over the.

Over the court.

Then I was pretty good with that.

Far as horn parts, probably the hardest thing was catching his.

His cues, because they would just play something, you know, because I kind of, you know, once again, I got through to the fire.

Very few rehearsals, no charts, no material.

You can't really hardly listen to the record because they really like the record anyway.

You buy a lot of cassettes before you did the audition.

Yeah, I heard it.

Yeah.

We'd be on the road, we stop at truck stops, and I'm looking through all the cassette, looking for live.

Live versions of the show, because, trust me, nobody.

Nobody in the whole band trying to help you.

You know, just like, that's your trial.

You got to get this yourself.

So I like, okay, well, let me start trying to find tape so I can learn this show.

Right, right.

And so the hardest thing is catching the cues.

Like he said, this is time.

1969.

This is time.

You got to know what to do.

And if nobody tell you what to do, you don't know what the trigger cues are, you know, like, how did they know to play that?

I could play it if I knew the cue, you know?

Yeah.

Takes a little.

So it takes a little while to catch that part.

Far as execution of the horn parts.

Get up off of that thing is kind of.

Kind of a little tough one to play.

Tight.

And there was a couple of tunes that were more jazzy, but they weren't actually James Brown tunes.

Okay.

But probably more than anything is the hard part about playing with him is just you got to play like you're in the rhythm section.

Parts are coming up.

When they come up, you got to be on point, on time.

You can't give out, you know, more endurance kind of things.

Was he big on after a show, going over any mistakes or.

I don't know, was there a lot of video that he'd go over with the band?

No, no.

He pretty much after the show.

I can't remember ever going to a rehearsal after the show.

Okay.

But he definitely.

If he gave you something to do and if you forgot it or missed it, he didn't.

That's for sure.

Yeah.

His.

His dancing, was that.

Seeing it up that close, were you.

Were you amazed on what.

What he put his body through?

Oh, definitely.

Especially at his age, you know.

Cause I caught him older.

Right.

But like I say, he would go out on that stage and give it his all, and then you might come backstage and then you realize, oh, man, he gave it his all because he is like, phew, you know?

Yeah.

He is sweating.

He is being attended to and he is relaxing.

Yeah, yeah.

All on the stage.

We had his former tour manager, Alan Leeds.

I think Alan was.

Yeah, he was already with Prince at that time.

But yeah, but yeah, he told stories about the knees getting banged up.

Going, doing the splits and everything.

Yeah.

Dropping.

Yeah.

And he dropped on his knees.

Yeah.

Well, was.

Let's talk about Woodstock because it's so impressive, the amount of people and you guys got out before they started.

Causing trouble with those fires, I hope.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

We kind of played.

The funny thing about the documentary, either I forgot the whole thing about starting and the money even never got made it to the band.

That part of it was a surprise to me because I never knew that that happened.

Oh, yeah.

The money problems with that.

Right.

Yeah.

Like he wasn't gonna go on because of the money or whatever if that happened.

It didn't.

At least the news never reached me.

Right.

And we kind of went on and Sheryl Crow was coming on after us and actually a friend of mine from.

From out in California that I played with was playing drums with her.

Oh, okay.

And so I was really surprised at that because I was just playing with him locally.

Right.

And so that was a big surprise.

So I kind of stuck around as long as I could to see her, but we pretty much jetted out of there right after we finished playing.

Yeah.

And then.

Then you hear and see it and like, wow, what happened here?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Those festivals.

I.

I don't know.

I.

I'd rather have an assigned seat, to be honest.

Yeah.

Yeah.

At this age.

Yeah.

I've even.

Me personally, I've even got over the concert boominess.

I kind of like my music more.

My live music more like a home stereo.

Clear.

Yeah.

Clear as a bell is possible.

And hearing everybody and everything, how they're being covered up by a bunch of bottom men.

Right.

How's your actual hearing from playing all those years?

My hearing is fine.

Okay.

What I've been dealing with last few years is a couple of injuries.

Broken neck and broken back causing neuroscopy.

Well, how did that happen?

Well, broke my neck, I think, on a motorcycle accident.

I didn't even go to the doctor, so I didn't know.

I didn't even know I broke my neck and then my back.

I know how I hurt that lifting an amp rack.

Trying to test to see if I could lift out rack and actually lift it and kind of swung back into my thighs and messing my back up.

Yeah, I know.

What you're going through.

My wife, she fractured her back like three and a half years ago, and still the fracture healed, but everything else been messed up, the pain and everything.

So.

I feel for you guys.

Yeah, it's, it's, it's rough.

Yeah.

So I, I cut back a little bit on my plan this year.

At least the booking of it.

Just because I realized on my days off, the rest is really helps, you know, so I'm not trying to do six, seven days a week, you know, and next year will be like my 50 50th year of playing music.

So just trying to take this year to get my body all the way right.

And I'm really trying to do something next year on another level.

Yeah.

Leroy Harper's Funky All Stars on the road maybe, right?

Yes, sir.

Yeah.

Do a nice east coast peck around the corners.

Maybe take Lynn out with me a little bit.

Yeah, yeah, Lynn.

Take me out with him.

Probably be more the case, right?

Yeah, you got, you know, nice people you hang with, you know, Lynn, and he's great people.

His daddy, his father's.

I just asked him the other night how old his father was.

His father showed up.

He's like 79.

I couldn't believe it.

Wow.

I'm like, well, dude, look into your future.

You're going to be good for a while.

Yeah.

My dad's turning 84 and he's still, you know, he's.

He picked me and my wife up at the airport.

He was walking faster than us.

So there you go.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Hopefully.

Hopefully we'll all make that.

That great stage of life.

Healthily.

Yeah.

Besides James Brown and your own band, Great bands live.

Do you have some other bands through the years that you admired seeing, play in concert?

Seeing and playing in concert?

Probably Crosstower Power.

Those are my boys.

Yeah.

And did quite a few shows with them.

And plus I used to live out in California, so.

The Bay Area.

Yeah, I used to live in the Bay Area, so I knew a few of them from.

From playing out there and did like side gigs with them and so definitely them.

And.

And I tell you what I really love is original cool.

In the gang when they were more of a jazz band.

Okay.

Going a lot.

Absolutely.

Right.

Absolutely love that stuff.

Incredibly jazzly funky.

Yeah, the band had a lot of people.

I mean, most of the originals have long passed, unfortunately.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And let me think of somebody kind of new.

Corey Wong.

Love him.

Yeah.

Great.

Great guitar player.

Yeah, yeah.

Love him and everything he does.

Henry, Derek.

Henry.

As a matter of fact, last Couple of days, I've been.

Been checking out some Michael Brucker and James Carter.

Oh, James Carter.

I saw him.

He opened up for Maceo at the Montreal Jazz Festival.

Yes.

Oh, my God.

He is both of them.

Yeah.

And Earl Bostic, I actually play.

I'm in a band with his great nephew called Band on Fire.

And Earl Bostic, amazing saxophone player that a lot of not enough people know about.

Wow.

Did you ever play the Montreal Jazz Festival in Canada with James?

Oh, not sure.

Yeah.

Be honest.

I know I played Montreal a couple of times.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, but we.

That was like, early when I first got with them.

Later on, for some reason, we never went to Montreal.

We did Vancouver a lot.

Okay.

Mostly Vancouver.

Then we.

Saskatchewan and Winnipeg on West be.

West coast stuff.

When was the last gig you did with James?

Oh, I want to say it might have been Amsterdam in Holland.

Okay.

It was definitely on that tour.

We did a tour where we flew into London.

We played in London immediately after concert, got on the plane, went straight to Moscow to play a private party and that JLo was at.

Right after that, we got back on the plane, went back somewhere else.

Right.

And that was the beginning of that tour.

That's how that tour started.

I was thinking to myself, I'm like, wow, do you realize this dude is 80 or whatever?

Yeah.

That's a heck of a star for old man, you know?

A heck of a star for a younger man.

Yeah, exactly.

And so we did that whole tour.

It was maybe two weeks or whatever, but it was right over there.

You know, after we got back from Moscow, everything else was kind of Central Europe shows, but that was the last one.

But what I really remember is I had a plane ticket to fly to Canada.

Okay.

Christmas morning.

And then when I got up, I got the phone call, do not go to the airport.

Oh, wow.

James Brown had died and the tour was canceled.

Yeah.

Because I.

My wife's from Montreal.

Originally, I was in Montreal for a Christmas party, and the next morning we heard on Christmas Day.

And you guys were scheduled, I think, to play in Montreal.

Probably was, yeah.

Because there was something in the newspaper hyping it up.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Wow.

Yeah.

And to me personally, I thought that was the biggest mistake management made was canceling that tour.

I think the band would have played on if we'd have just went out, got on the plane and showed up in Canada, you know?

Yeah.

It's like James Brown just died.

Who's.

Who's not coming to the concert?

Yeah.

You know?

Yeah.

They want to wanna.

And if you think about if you really knew James Brown, and if you ask yourself, what would he want you to do?

He would have wanted us to go on and play.

He would not have wanted us to cancel shows because he died.

You know, he's definitely a Joe must go on kind of guy.

Yeah.

Want that legacy of music to keep on pushing down the tracks.

Yes.

Yeah.

How close do you stay in contact with your fellow band members through the years?

From the James crowd?

A few of them pretty close.

Matter of fact, Fred Thomas is supposed to be coming to visit me.

He's down south now.

Yeah.

And he's supposed to be visiting me sometime soon.

Next couple of days.

Oh, okay.

And so I stayed real close in contact with Fred.

Keyboard player Jared Poindexter.

Mousey, the drummer.

Waldo.

We was just talking back and forth online.

Yeah.

Nice guy.

Yeah.

Who was the.

I don't know if you played with him, because it might have been the early to mid-80s.

It was the bass player back then.

There was David Weston.

Okay.

He.

He married Anne Weston.

She's from Canada.

Okay.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Could have been Jimmy Lee Moore or Fred.

Nope, I think it was Jimmy Moore, maybe.

Yeah.

Sweet Charles Terrell.

Yeah.

It wasn't Sweet Charlie.

I.

I think it was Jimmy Lee Moore.

Jimmy Lee Moore, yeah.

He's even Florida.

He's a preacher now.

Okay.

Because I was.

We were on the stage and I was talking to him and he was, you know, he was a real nice guy and says, oh, you guys want to hang out after the show?

And we.

We didn't wind up hanging out, but he was real cool.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So it was going forward with your own band.

Let's.

Let's give our.

Our viewers and listeners some.

Some plans in the near future and what you got going other than recouping from all those various injuries of playing all these years.

Oh, yes, yes.

But first of all, my fingers do work now, so that was the major thing, because you cannot play saxophone without your left hand.

Yeah.

I've been playing a lot of keyboards because my right hand was working better than my left.

But now my left is back, so I'm back on sax and I got Elliot back.

So that means I don't have to play keyboards as much.

Yeah.

So like I said, we just ramping up.

We have a few Wednesdays and the Mondays, and then I've got a couple of booking agents that have me on speed dial for whenever cancellations happen.

But what I'm really trying to decide now, that lens came into my music life.

Trying to decide If I'm going funk or jazz or mixture in between the two.

Yeah, yeah, he's got that background.

Yeah, yeah.

So basically just kind of sharpening up the skills and reading the tea leaves while I enjoy life.

Yeah, yeah.

Seems like you got a nice life.

You call.

You're able to call your own shots as far as.

Yeah, exactly.

Is.

I much rather do that than be told, go here.

Be there to go, you know?

Yeah, Yeah.

I remember DJing parties.

It was like three gigs and within 24 hours across town and lifting the equipment, I said, I could never do that now.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah.

So, yeah.

So slow down the hustle and bustle a little bit and try to.

Well, here's what I've been telling all guys in my bands.

We've been playing music.

Now it's time to make music instead of just playing it and create music.

Making and creating music instead of just playing it is my new mantra for my band.

Yeah, get some songs recorded and you'll have that add to all the other stuff you guys have done, right?

Yeah.

At the home.

Do you do any recording at your home?

I used to, but just hadn't been doing because I used to do a lot of it by myself or with one person.

And I kind of put a stop that.

I was like, man, I want to record with full bands, you know, instead of just sitting around full of songs I wrote all by myself.

So I do have a good spot.

Really good friend of mine, he's got a studio that we rehearse in, and so all he has to do is hit play and record, you know, so it's just a matter of time.

And when we go in and actually do something, but it's getting closer.

Right.

How was James as a keyboard player?

Oh, he's.

He's good.

Yeah, he was good.

He's got those.

Well, me and my roommate, we've been studying Barry Harris.

Okay.

Yeah, he's got a lot of those.

Barry Harris course without actually knowing what he's doing.

So.

Yeah, yeah, he would.

The funny.

Here's a funny story.

He.

We were in, I want to say, with Tucson of Phoenix, Arizona, and Jimmy Smith shows up.

Oh, wow.

And he's got to be three, of course, and a cog M1 on stage.

Well, he gets Jimmy Smith to sit in and he tells him to play the COD M1 instead of the B3.

So at the end of the show, I'm in the dressing room taking my clothes off, getting dressed, and his valet comes in.

He's like, Mr.

Brown, want to see You.

I'm like, oh, my God, what did I do this time?

So I go in his dressing room, and it's just Jimmy Smith and James Brown in the dressing room.

He like, son, sit down.

And him and Jimmy Smith, they're just talking.

Nobody's talking to me.

For some reason, he wanted me to be in there while him and Jimmy Smith was talking to each other.

And they're going back and forth, talk about whatever.

Then the conversation's over with, and Jimmy Smith's about to leave.

I said, he's about to leave.

I like, man, I'm gonna say something.

I said, hold on.

Don't go nowhere.

And I told him and James Brown, I said, stand there.

And I put my hands on both of them like a preacher.

I said, I'm gonna be the only person in history to ever touch James Brown and Jimmy Smith at the same time.

I said, y' all give me whatever y' all got to give me.

I'll take it now.

Right now, real still for a couple of seconds.

And they were.

And they were laughing.

Yeah.

And no sooner than the door shut, James Brown turned around to me and say, Mr.

Hopper, Jimmy Smith done lost it.

He said, I cut him.

Somebody played the B3 bell, right?

I'm thinking, yeah, he lost it.

He lost his B3.

You wouldn't let him play B3.

He doesn't play him on.

And you got a book in you.

I think you got a lot of stories to tell.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

We've been going for a while.

Yeah.

You definitely got to get.

Get it.

Get those documented.

Were a lot of celebrities, I'm sure, popping in the dressroom.

Wanted to meet James in the band back in the day.

Yeah, of course.

Yeah, of course.

You know, and we would be around them, but for some reason, we were always a little bit separated from them also, you know, whoever else was on the show.

I don't know why, but you've always felt that little bit of separation, which kind of made it kind of hard for, you know, how you go on tour with one person, the next thing know, you're on tour with the next.

I think it was maybe kind of set up in that way just to keep the band from jumping ship, you know?

Anybody from jumping ship.

Oh, that's interesting.

Yeah.

Did you play BB Kings in New York City with him towards the end?

Yes, I did.

Yeah.

Those dressing rooms are small.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I remember going back and, you know, our friends in Morris Day in the time, and.

Yeah, it's like everybody's.

Yeah, yeah.

So, yeah, I Used to like to do that room.

Yeah.

Would you do one show or two shows?

I think we only did one.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, I think we would do one.

What did you like about BB Kings in New York?

What I didn't like was the sound system.

Oh, you didn't like it.

Okay.

Yeah.

I always thought the sound was rugged.

Oh, okay.

Kind of rugged kind of sound.

But I played David Letterman's show once and now that sound was immaculate.

Wow.

Yeah.

Matter of fact, when we finished playing, because for some reason the whole band basically couldn't make the flight.

It was just me, Sinclair Pinckney and Ron Lasseter.

We were the only three that made it.

So we played with the Letterman band.

And after Brown finished playing, they asked us to stay up and play the rest of the night.

So we got to play the whole night.

Oh, you played during the commercials and everything?

Yeah, during the commercials and everything.

Yeah.

That was.

So you were playing with.

Growing up, watching David Letterman, that was for sure.

And watching David Sanborn on there and whoever else on there that was definitely a highlight.

Was Bernie Worrell in that.

That band that year?

He.

I think he did it one year.

But no, he wasn't in it.

It was Paul Schaefer.

Yeah.

And I want to say it was 91 or 92.

Probably 92.

So it was Paul Schaefer and Buzzfeeding and Will Lee, right?

Yeah, that group.

Yeah.

Antoine Fig.

Oh, yeah.

And the drums.

Yeah.

Which I.

I always thought he was real rock and rollish, but he was all over the James Brown stuff.

He laid it down funky.

Yeah.

You've been amongst the greats and you're one of the greats, so keep it going.

I do my best.

You get on that stage in 50 years next year, right?

Yes, sir, 50 years.

Look out for next year.

It's going to be a big, big celebration.

And yes, I promise to bring it all year long.

That's right.

And before we say goodbye, can you tell the viewers, listeners where they can go to see you and the All Star Leroy Harper's All Star Bands?

Well, first of all, if you go to our Facebook page, you will see our dates.

Funky Duh.

Funky Leroy Harper Jr.

All Stars with a Z at the end.

And you can go to my Facebook page.

But right now, every Monday and Tuesday, you can catch me at Star Tavern.

And I have one Wednesday a month at Locals Tavern.

I mean, at Local on the Water in North Myrtle Beach.

And I have.

I will have random gigs here and there, but you can also catch me with Band on Fire and you can catch me anywhere with mercenaries or Atwood.

And you never know who will show up.

As you say, it's you never know who show up.

Yellow island of for musicians, we might.

Do some Led Zeppelin and follow it up with some John Coltrane.

Wow.

So you never know.

And that's what's exciting about it, right?

Yes, it is.

Yeah.

So thanks, brother.

Leroy Harper, it's an honor to have you on the show, Leroy.

Thank you, my brother.

Yeah.

And Monday night, say hi to Elliot and Lynn and the rest of the band.

I will do.

And God bless you and everything that you do.

All right.

Thank you.

Take care.

Thank.