Grammy-Nominated Jazz Saxophonist Everette Harp Is a Member of Phi Beta Sigma

Did you know that Grammy-nominated jazz saxophonist Everette Harp is a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.?

Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Harp is the youngest of eight children. His father was a minister and his mother played the organ, making gospel music one of his earliest and deepest influences. He started playing piano at age two and picked up the saxophone at four. He began playing jazz in middle school at Marshall Junior High before attending Houston’s renowned High School for Performing and Visual Arts.

Harp went on to study music at North Texas State University, now the University of North Texas, in the early 1980s, and it was there that he became a brother of Phi Beta Sigma. After a brief stint working as an accountant, he played in local Houston bands before moving to Los Angeles in 1988, where he toured with Teena Marie and then internationally with Anita Baker.

His big break came through the late, legendary keyboardist George Duke, who produced Harp’s self-titled 1992 debut on Blue Note Records. The album launched a career that has included nine studio albums, an appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival, weekly performances on The Arsenio Hall Show, and his 2006 album In the Moment debuting at number one on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Chart. Along the way, the Sigma saxman has recorded and shared the stage with Luther Vandross, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Patti LaBelle, Billy Joel, Herbie Hancock, and Kenny Loggins, and his horn has been heard on theme songs for Entertainment Tonight and Soul Train.

In 2014, Harp co-founded the contemporary jazz supergroup Jazz Funk Soul alongside keyboardist Jeff Lorber and the late guitarist Chuck Loeb. The trio’s debut earned Harp his first Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. After Loeb’s passing in 2017, guitarist Paul Jackson Jr. joined the group, which according to The Urban Music Scene released its fifth album, Simpatico, on July 11, 2025. According to EURweb, the trio has become a multi-platinum selling act with 50 number one Contemporary Jazz radio hits.

From a minister’s house in Houston to the biggest stages in contemporary jazz, Harp carries the spirit of Phi Beta Sigma’s motto, “Culture for Service and Service for Humanity,” into every note he plays.

Everette released nine studio albums in his career and three collaboration albums. He’s worked with prominent artists like Teena Marie, Luther Vandross, and Anita Baker.

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