Darryl Harper

Clarinetist, composer, and educator Darryl Harper is a virtuoso performer whose work straddles jazz and classical. A professor at Amherst, Harper's music often touches upon the socio-political intersection of race, culture, and the economy. He is known for leading his trio the Onus with bassist Matthew Parrish and drummer Harry "Butch" Reed, as on albums like Recurring Dream and Triphony. He paired chamber jazz with spoken word on 2009's Stories in Real Time and again showcased his nuanced classical arranging on 2022's Chamber Made. Born in Philadelphia, Harper started playing clarinet at age six and was introduced to jazz in his teens. Before he left high school, he was already playing professionally, gigging locally with artists like Eddie Green, Bootsie Barnes, and Tyrone Brown. In 1990, he graduated Amherst College with his Bachelor of Arts in Music. From there, he finished his Master of Music in Jazz Studies at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and his Doctor of Musical Arts in Jazz Studies, New England Conservatory. It was also during his time at school that he formed his trio the Onus (with bassist Matthew Parrish and drummer Harry "Butch" Reed), releasing probing albums like Recurring Dream, The Onus, and Triphony. He has also played with artists like Roscoe Mitchell, Dave Holland, and Dee Dee Bridgewater, and was a member of Regina Carter's ensemble and Jason Moran's Harlem Hellfighters. Along with performing, Harper has held teaching positions at Virginia Commonwealth University and in the Department of Music at Amherst. In 2009, he released Stories in Real Time, which featured his four-clarinet ensemble and rhythm section with spoken word by Marianne Solivan. That same year, he spent several weeks at the Edenfred artist residency in Madison, Wisconsin, where he formed his Into Something duo with pianist Kevin Harris. He then combined the duo with his Onus trio for 2013's The Edenfred Files. Both Parris and Reed were also on board for The Need's Got to Be So Deep, which found Harper performing in a variety of group settings. In 2022, he returned with Chamber Made, a classical-influenced production featuring a "Suite for Clarinet and String Quartet" and the three-part "Spatial Decor" suite.
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