Captured during a pivotal, trailblazing period of his five decade career, pianist Hal Galper had come off the road with the Cannonball Adderley Quintet looking to establish his new working band. Pulling in Michael & Randy Brecker, whom he had recorded & worked with in the early '70s, along with bassist Wayne Dockery and drummer Bob Moses, Galper set up Sunday matinees at NY's Sweet Basil jazz club for a year to woodshed the group concept and new compositions. In the studio, 1977's Reach Out displayed an astonishingly original collective, all matching Galper's chance-taking, high-spirited, free-wheeling approach to music making. 1979's Speak with a Single Voice captured the energy of the quintet live, but on this 1977 Berlin Jazz Festival performance, the band shifts into an other-wordly overdrive. From the opening salvos of Galper's Now Hear This, the mission is defined - jazz giants, in the prime of their youth, set free to blow, pushed to the limits by Galper's facility, full-bodied sound, and fertile imagination.
(Mike & Randy Brecker) comprised a blistering front line. Galper was in aggressive form, playing with an energy reminiscent of McCoy Tyner, a spirit of embellishment reminiscent of Art Tatum and a harmonic knowledge reminiscent of Bill Evans. Dockery and Moses formed a heart-pounding tandem. - Owen Cordle, JAZZTIMES
Artists:Hal Galper - PianoRandy Brecker - TrumpetMichael Brecker - Tenor SaxophoneWayne Dockery - BassBob Moses - Drums
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
This intense moment in time captures US pianist Hal Galper leading a volatile quintet with the fabled Brecker brothers...At a time when straight ahead jazz was competing with fusion, this high-flying acoustic quintet generated a sizzling electricity of its own. Jim Gilchrist, The Scotsman, 4 STARS
