RAY HARPER

Born in Detroit on May 14, 1938, Ray Harper is a well-known keyboardist, arranger, teacher, and raconteur. Both of his parents died when he was a boy, so he came to Shelby to live with the aunt and uncle who raised him. He learned to play trumpet while still in school and credits Don Gibson, a person that Ray admired, with giving him his first gig in a whites-only club in Shelby. While still in school, he and his brothers played at “liquor houses” in Cleveland and Rutherford counties on Saturday nights, followed by playing in church on Sunday mornings.

While attending North Carolina A