BBC NI documentary to chart the life and times of Belfast writer and musician Colin Harper and his Legends of Tomorrow band

Maybe that's unsurprising as he works mostly from a tiny box room in east Belfast and his remarkable studio collective, The Legends Of Tomorrow, had never played live - from their first recording, in 1997 - till two months ago.

As well as that, Colin’s somewhat elusive and private persona has tended to mask the remarkable ripples that radiate from the work he describes as his “pebbles’ into the musical and literary life of Belfast.

In addition to his work as a music journalist - Colin has authored definitive but highly readable books on musicians Bert Jansch, Mahavishnu John McLaughlin and Andrew Powell as well as the go - to text on Irish pipering, Wheels Of The World and Irish Folk, Trad And Blues.

In his life as a musician he has released a number of albums of purely instrumental longer works - it is the memorable songs he has recorded over the years with his studio collective The Legends Of Tomorrow that form the musical core of the documentary. The narrative of the piece revolves around the concert - filmed over two nights - that reunites two dozen members of The Legends Of Tomorrow onstage in Scotts Jazz Club in east Belfast for a kind of joyful revival meeting.

Legends Of Harper features interviews and commentary from Colin’s admirers as well as artists with whom he’s played (and for whom he has curated major box sets, another aspect of his work). These include Ralph McTell, Johnny Marr of The Smiths, Mahivashnu John McLaughlin, Beatles biographer Mark Lewisohn, Wishbone Ash man, Andy Powell and Duke Special. Irish and trad musicians also feature strongly: Martin Hayes, for instance, plays with Colin before delivering some striking insights into composing and performing. Noted Uileann piper John McSherry, flautist Jim Lockhart and Bono all contribute.

The documentary was produced by Barry Devlin of Horslips, directed by Cormac O’Kane and edited by Richard Brown at Live Under Giants.

It airs on BBC One NI at 10:30pm on Sunday, February 18.