Winard Harper is a local boy done good, and it's always a pleasure to see musicians come back to perform to a hometown crowd. The 46 year-old drummer will be doing just that as he leads his wonderful sextet through two sets tomorrow night at the Kennedy Center.

A son of Baltimore, Harper made his way to the District, where he cut his teeth with studies at Howard University, and by playing with some of our local greats such as Buck Hill, Shirley Horn, Ruben Brown, and Lawrence Wheatley.

"D.C. was a very important part of my career and helped me get myself established," Harper said of his experience here.

Unfortunately for the local scene, and like many of the area's top players, the bright lights of New York drew him northward.

"It was about building my career and wanting to be even more steeped in the music and the tradition," Harper explained. "It's true what they say, if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere."

Harper immediately began to play with higher profile artists and had lengthy stints with the venerable Betty Carter and Dr. Billy Taylor. In addition to this busy work as a sideman, Harper co-led The Harper Brothers along with his trumpeter brother, Philip. The group disbanded in the early 1990s, and at that point Harper began to focus on his own band, the Winard Harper Sextet.

While the musicianship in Harper's group is first rate, there are elements of jazz tradition he hopes to reclaim.

"My music has always been like an accumulation of my ideas and my experiences," he said. "I want the music to be spiritual, soulful, and even danceable. That’s the way the early bands were. This music was for dance."

Though Harper has great deference for jazz tradition, he recognizes the need to evolve within the art form. Therefore, tomorrow's audience can expect a healthy mix of original material that breaks new ground, re-vamped standards, and material that pays homage to the past.

"It’s about balance," he explained. "That’s what I go after with my band and it’s not an easy thing at all. How can the music of our time become standards if we don’t play the new stuff?"

The Winard Harper Sextet will be performing 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. sets tomorrow night in the Kennedy Center's Terrace Gallery. Tickets are sold out, but it's always worth contacting the box office for last minute cancellations.

Image courtesy Winard Harper