Back when the term had some commercial cache, drummer Winard Harper was the quintessential young lion. As co-leader of the potent neo-hard-bop band The Harper Brothers, Winard and his younger sibling Philip, a stalwart trumpeter, made several stirring albums for Verve that were soulful and fiercely swinging, if not particularly original. In hindsight, the band was more significant for boosting the careers of numerous fine players than for any of its recordings.

Since setting out on his own, Winard has recorded a series of increasingly strong sessions for Savant, building on his reputation as a bandleader with a keen ear for new talent. The drummer makes his Carmel debut at the Jazz and Blues Company on Saturday with his impressive sextet, featuring trumpeter Patrick Rickman, tenor saxophonist Brian Horton, pianist Jeb Patton, bassist Ameen Saleem and Alioun Faye on African percussion.

One reason 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 in a recent phone conversation from Portland. “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 showcases the young improvisers. “That’s something that Ron Carter hipped me to,” Harper said, referring to the revered bassist. “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.”

Born and raised in Baltimore, Harper gained important early experience with tenor titans Dexter Gordon and Johnny Griffin. It was during his four-year stint with the indomitable vocalist Betty Carter that Harper started gaining widespread attention. It’s something of a paradox that jazz did a better job during those years in turning out impeccable young players than it did in building young audiences. As Harper tries to keep his six-piece band on the road, that’s a reality upon which he has plenty of time to reflect.

“We’re in a strange period, with the economy, with the reception for the music,” Harper said. “We’re finding that the numbers of jazz listeners, it’s not where we would like it to be. When I first came on the scene working with Tommy Flanagan, the Heath Brothers, and Betty Carter, the average age of the audience was 15 to 20 years older than I was. Now I’m 15 or 20 years older and a lot of those people aren’t coming out to gigs anymore. A lot of attention was paid to bringing up new musicians and we did a great job at that, but we didn’t put enough attention to building a jazz audience.”

The Winard Harper Sextet performs at 7:30pm at the Jazz and Blues Company, 236 Crossroads Blvd., Carmel. $45 (students under 18 half price). BYOB. 624-6432.