Drummer Winard Harper at Jazz Alley for 2 nights

As a young lion in the mid-1980s, drummer Winard Harper came of age in the midst of a jazz boom. Resurgent legends mentored budding players, providing them with invaluable experience and exposure. Record labels sought out young artists, and clubs rushed to book their bands.

Harper first gained attention as a supple timekeeper in 1982 with tenor sax titans Dexter Gordon and Johnny Griffin. But it was his four-year run with vocalist Betty Carter that catapulted the Baltimore native into prominence. He made his Seattle debut with Carter, a savvy talent scout who ran her band like a boot camp for improvisers, and he's returned many times as the leader of his own combo.

He arrives in town on Tuesday for a two-night run at Jazz Alley looking at a jazz landscape transformed by technology and recession. After more than a decade leading a sextet constantly refreshed by a stream of top young talent, Harper is talking about downsizing. With sadness in his voice, he indicated that his longest-serving band member, Senegalese percussionist Alioune Faye, may not make the West Coast trip.

"I'm not sure he's coming out," said Harper, 47. "It's just rough out there. Flying is already so expensive, and now they want to charge you for luggage. Keeping a band together is harder than ever. We're figuring out how to make things work."

After a string of excellent sessions for Savant, Harper released his last sextet album, "Make It Happen," in 2006 on Piadrum. Characteristically, the CD features well-traveled contemporaries like trombonist Wycliffe Gordon and altoist Antonio Hart alongside rising stars such as tenor saxophonist Stacy Dillard and trumpeter Josh Evans.

His band's latest incarnation offers a tantalizing slice from the steady flow of ambitious young players emerging on the scene. Pianist Jon Notar, who recently completed a double major at Manhattan's New School University in jazz performance and science, made his professional debut with Harper.

Trumpeter Bruce Harris just completed a master's degree at SUNY Purchase as a protégé of Jon Faddis, and tenor saxophonist Jovan Alexandre is a sophomore at the University of Hartford's Hartt School of Music, the same program where Harper studied with alto sax great Jackie McLean nearly 30 years ago.

One reason why Harper attracts so many strong younger players, besides his superb musicianship and unfailingly dynamic trap work, is that he encourages his sidemen to bring in new tunes. "Everybody writes," Harper said. "The band's book includes contributions from everybody."

Rather than developing elaborate arrangements, the group has honed a book of pieces mostly worked out on the bandstand. The result is a collection of loose and limber tunes that effectively showcase the young improvisers.

"That's something that Ron Carter hipped me to," Harper said. "Sometimes just bring a piece of music in and play it, and an arrangement will come out of that. Somebody plays something you like, and it becomes an arrangement. I'm open to all kinds of ideas, but I've got a strong sense of the sound that I'm looking for."

Andrew Gilbert: jazzscribe@aol.com