Y’all Got It

Y’All Got It pays loving tribute to the late composer Charlie Smalls, whose brainchild, the 1975 Tony Award-winning musical The Wiz, left an indelible mark on Harper when he saw the original Broadway production as child. Adopting the time-honored jazz tradition of borrowing pieces from musical theater, Harper presents sympathetic arrangements of eight tunes from The Wiz. While showcasing the beauty of the familiar melodies, Harper’s arrangements not only nurture nostalgia for the musical, but also present Smalls’s compositions as viable and interesting vehicles for jazz improvisation. The album also includes a fitting ballad by noted jazz composer Andy Jaffe.