Rufus Harley, Jr. (b. near Raleigh, North Carolina, May 20, 1936; d. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 31, 2006) was an American jazz musician of mixed Cherokee and African ancestry, known primarily as the first jazz musician to adopt the Scottish great Highland bagpipe as his primary instrument.

Although born near Raleigh, North Carolina, at an early age Harley moved with his mother to a poor neighborhood in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although he began playing saxophone, trumpet, oboe, and flute, Harley became inspired to learn the bagpipe after seeing the Black Watch perform in John F. Kennedy's funeral procession in November 1963. Then a maintenance worker for the Philadelphia's housing authority, Harley began searching for a set. Failing to find one in his home city, a friend alerted him to a set in a Jewish-operated New York pawn shop. He purchased the instrument for US$120, quickly adapting it to the idioms of jazz, blues, and funk.[1] His teacher was Dennis Sandole (1913-2000), a jazz guitarist who also taught bagpipes to several other Philadelphia jazz musicians.[2] On several occasions, when a neighbor called the police to complain about Harley's practicing in his apartment, he would quickly put away his bagpipes and feign ignorance, asking the officers, "Do I look like I'm Irish or Scottish to you?"[3]

Harley made his bagpipe performance debut in 1964. From 1965 to 1970 he released several recordings as leader on the Atlantic label, also recording as a sideman with Herbie Mann, Sonny Stitt, and Sonny Rollins in the 1960s and 1970s. He later recorded with Laurie Anderson (appearing on her 1982 album Big Science) and The Roots (on their 1995 album Do You Want More?!!!??!). In addition to bagpipes, on these albums he also occasionally plays tenor saxophone or electric soprano saxophone.

Harley often wore Scottish garb, including a kilt, in conjunction with a Viking-style horned helmet. After seeing him perform on television, a Scottish family gave him his tartan, the McLeod tartan, which he wore for the rest of his life.[4] His bagpipe technique was somewhat unorthodox in that he placed the drones over his right shoulder rather than his left. He favored the key of B-flat minor.

Harley lived for most of his life in the Germantown neighborhood of Northwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and frequently gave presentations in Philadelphia-area public schools. During his frequent overseas performance tours, he carried and distributed miniature replicas of the Liberty Bell, the symbol of his hometown, as well as American flags and copies of the U.S. Constitution. He died at Philadelphia's Albert Einstein Medical Center on July 31, 2006 of prostate cancer.[5] He is survived by 16 children and 15 grandchildren. One of his sons, Messiah Patton Harley, also of Philadelphia, is a trumpeter who often performed with his father.