Winard Harper and Jeli Posse

Winard Harper was a child prodigy.  At 5 years old, Winard would sometimes sit in and play drums in his older brother Danny’s rock & roll band.

His younger brother Philip eventually joined to play trumpet. By the ‘80s, Winard had assembled the forerunner of his future band – The Harper Brothers Band.

The band eventually evolved into the Winard Harper Sextet which is now known as Winard Harper and Jeli Posse. One of Winard’s greatest influences has been drummer Billy Higgins.

Like Higgins, Winard plays with joy and passion, and invokes African spirituality into his work.

“From our African roots until today, many ingredients have been thrown into the pot. The band continues to expand on the ground laid by the medicine men and messengers before us”. -Winard Harper-