Harry Spencer: Life steeped in joy, spirituality of music

The Arts Academy at The Grand nestles in a warren of eight compact, soundproofed rooms on the second floor of the historic Market Street opera house.

There, just a few dozen yards from the ornate Victorian setting of Copeland Hall where artistic legends have performed for 145 years, students of all ages come once a week to learn the fundamentals of how to play a musical instrument.

For the most part, these students do not aspire to careers as musicians; instead, they seek to improve their skills in a pursuit that gives them both a creative outlet and great personal pleasure.

The elder statesman of The Arts Academy is without a doubt Harry E. Spencer Jr., a septuagenarian jazz saxophonist and much-revered horn teacher. Like many working musicians in the region, he patches a living together through an ever-shifting combination of regular performance gigs and music lessons.

And in both those arenas, Spencer is held in high regard as a consummate professional, as an exceptional artist and, perhaps most important, as a wonderful mentor and friend.

Throughout his career, music has always been more than just a livelihood.

“Music is spiritual to me,” says Spencer, “because it has a poetry to it. It’s an opportunity to express your real self. There’s good music, and then there’s art, taking it to another level. You have to know your instrument and your craft very well to create art.”

Spencer was not always a teacher. For many years, he was a working musician performing in Latin bands in clubs around his native New York City. He also gigged at the renowned Village Vanguard and in coffee houses in the Village.

During the 1970s, he toured Europe and elsewhere with the Sun Ra Arkestra; Spencer can be heard on the group’s Magic City album. He has also performed with such respected jazz artists as Pharaoh Sanders, Paul Weeden, Al Foster, Eddie Gomez, Billy Gardinier, and Charles Tolliver.

Though his parents both had roots in Delaware, Spencer grew up in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood. Spencer started his music training on the clarinet, but a high school music teacher, Moses Chusid, needed him as a saxophonist for the annual Christmas show.

Spencer switched, and never looked back. He got additional theory, improvisation and ear training with Lenny Tristano, a renowned jazz pianist and teacher. And soon, Spencer was playing in jam sessions at Count Basie’s Lounge and soaking up the amped-up jazz vibe at Birdland.

As a youth, Spencer had come to Delaware during summer for years and found himself, as many aspiring Delaware jazz artists do, in the presence of Robert “Boysie” Lowery.

“Every time I came back to Delaware,” Spencer says, “I would visit him and he would have me play. He was an inspirational guy. All the good players around here studied with Boysie.”

By the early 1980s, Spencer’s aging mother decided to move back to Delaware permanently. As an only child, Spencer came with her to help care for her. He temporarily set aside his music career to provide for his wife and four children, and spent several years painting houses. Spencer hadn’t even brought his horn with him when he relocated.

But a random encounter changed his path back to music. A group of men on a street corner bet each other that Spencer couldn’t pick up the sax they had with them and play it. When he did so, and it sounded great, the importance of music in his life reasserted itself.

Since in Delaware, Spencer has opened for Dizzy Gillespie at the first Clifford Brown Jazz festival in 1986, and played regularly at clubs and venues in the area including the Deer Park Tavern and Caesar’s in Atlantic City.

He was one of the first teachers recruited for The Grand Music School more than 20 years ago, since renamed The Arts Academy. For Spencer, teaching is as fulfilling as performing; in fact, they fit together as a whole.

“I like to watch my students as they get better and better,” he says. “They get nervous when I want them to play out in public. But it’s important to get them out on stage, to give them something to work for. Being a musician, you’ve got to have some courage, because part of the learning experience is to step outside yourself and what’s comfortable to you.”

Spencer appreciates the opportunity to teach as part of The Arts Academy.

“It’s a big part of The Grand’s commitment to the community. I think we at The Arts Academy are doing a good job, opening up opportunities for kids and adults.”

And his students appreciate him right back. One of Harry’s adult students, Susan Higginbotham, describes her lesson time as “the best hour of my week. It’s a real joy, which is why I’ve studied with him for over 10 years. I value my time with Harry also because of the side conversations we have about life.”

“Not only is Harry a terrific musician,” says Higginbotham, “but he’s a role model and a father figure who also has a quiet spiritual side. Harry is a giant among men.”

Teenager Cheiron D’Ambrosio says that Harry “has made me want to play music. He’s a great jazz teacher. I played the sax before but I didn’t play jazz. I play jazz now and I like it. Harry is fun, interesting, and says ‘good job’ after everything.”

“Harry is one of the best teachers you could have,” says another teen, Joey Davis, who has studied with Spencer since the fourth grade. “It’s not just about teaching, but his guidance makes you a better person and a better player.”

Dave Vandever says in his experience that “a good teacher is not necessarily a good performer, but Harry has a unique talent with both. He’s really caring and inspiring for his students. He makes you a believer in you.”

When Vandever opened The Nomad Bar on Orange Street in 2011, he asked his teacher to be music coordinator for the venue.

“Much of the success of The Nomad can be attributed to Harry’s role finding great musicians to perform,” Vandever says. “He has the respect and admiration of the entire music community.”

Through his ongoing work as a performer (every second Wednesday at Nomad), a teacher and music coordinator, Spencer has touched a lot of lives and introduced a lot of people to jazz music.

“I’m proud of my reputation as a player and as a teacher,” he says with a quiet smile. “When they see me and see my name, they know what to expect.”

Behind the scenes is an occasional column by Delaware arts leaders. This column was by Mark Fields, executive director of The Grand Opera House.