PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Known as "the world's first jazz bagpiper," Rufus Harley has died in his home town of Philadelphia at the age of 70.
His son Messiah Patton Harley told The New York Times that his father, who once played alongside jazz greats like John Coltrane and Dizzy Gillespie, died on Aug. 1 from prostate cancer.
Although he was of African-American and Cherokee descent, Rufus Harley became the first person to openly introduce bagpipes into the jazz mainstream in the 1960s, typically performing in both an African dashiki and a Scottish kilt.
"He adapted the bagpipes to jazz, blues, funk and other typically African-American styles, while also acknowledging the instrument's Scottish roots," instructor David Badagnani of the Center for the Study of World Musics at Kent State University said.
Originally inspired by the Black Watch bagpipe band's performance at the 1963 funeral of U.S. President John Kennedy, Harley went on to record numerous albums with multiple jazz icons and perform on a variety of TV shows, the Times said.
