April 6, 1934 – February 27, 1999

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Pianist and composer Horace Elva Tapscott was born April 6, 1934 in Houston, Texas.

His family moved to LA at nine where he later met and played as a teenager with fellow Angelenos Frank Morgan, Don Cherry, and Billy Higgins.

In 1961, he formed the Afrikan Peoples Arkestra which gave early playing opportunities to Arthur Blythe, Stanley Crouch, Butch Morris, Wilber Morris, David Murray, Jimmy Woods, and Guido Sinclair among others.

During his adolescence Horace Tapscott studied piano and trombone an instrument he played in Lionel Hampton’s band beginning in 1959.

In 1961 he left Hampton’s group to focus solely on piano and formed the “Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra” an organization of musician, composers, and dancers devoted to the preservation and development of African American music.

“I would like my legacy to be, that I came loving and believing in sharing knowledge and history. I’d like them to say that he was always there, and straight ahead” -Horace Tapscott

The Union of God’s Musicians and Artists Ascension (UGMAA) (originally the Underground Musicians Association – UGMA – and founded in 1963 in Los Angeles by Horace Tapscott)performs in Germany.

Horace Tapscott performs Tadd Dameron’s “If You Could See Me Now” in Germany on March 21, 1998.

Personnel:

Horace Tapscott, piano
Roberto Miranda, bass

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