WORLD'S ONLY JAZZ BAGPIPE PLAYER

WORLD'S ONLY JAZZ BAGPIPE PLAYER

PHILADELPHIA (Wireless Flash) -- A Philadelphia resident claims to be the world's only jazz bagpipe player and has spent the last 35 years trying to get the world to take note. 64-year-old Rufus Harley started out playing the sax but picked up the bagpipes after he watched a group of pipers at JFK's funeral. The Beethoven of Bagpipes has since performed with Sonny Rollins and Laurie Anderson and has a new CD, "It's Independence Time." Although bagpipes are associated with Scotland, Harley claims they've been around since ancient Egyptian times and Nero played them when Rome burned. However, Harley feels the bagpipe is actually an American instrument because "it expresses the tonality of all nationalities -- like the United States."