Hal Galper
Encyclopedia
Biography
He studied classical piano as a boy, but switched to jazz which he studied at the Berklee College of MusicBerklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
from 1955 to 1958. He hung out at Herb Pomeroy's club, The Stable, hearing local Boston musicians like Jackie Byard, Alan Dawson
Alan Dawson
Alan Dawson was a respected jazz drummer and widely influential percussion teacher based in Boston. He was born in Marietta, Pennsylvania and raised in Roxbury, MA. Serving in the Army for Korean War duty, Dawson played with the Army Dance Band while stationed at Fort Dix from 1951-1953...
and Sam Rivers
Sam Rivers
Samuel Carthorne Rivers , is an American jazz musician and composer. He performs on soprano and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet, flute, harmonica and piano....
. Galper started sitting in and became the house pianist at The Stable and later on, at Connelly's and Lenny's On The Turnpike. He went on to work in Pomeroy's band.
Later on he worked with Chet Baker
Chet Baker
Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker, Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and singer.Though his music earned him a large following , Baker's popularity was due in part to his "matinee idol-beauty" and "well-publicized drug habit."He died in 1988 in Amsterdam, the...
and Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
and accompanied vocalists Joe Williams
Joe Williams (jazz singer)
Joe Williams was a well-known jazz vocalist, a baritone singing a mixture of blues, ballads, popular songs, and jazz standards.-Early life:...
, Anita O'Day
Anita O'Day
Anita O'Day was an American jazz singer.Born Anita Belle Colton, O'Day was admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appearances shattered the traditional image of the "girl singer"...
, and Chris Connor
Chris Connor
Chris Connor was an American jazz singer.-Biography:She was born as Mary Loutsenhizer in Kansas City, Missouri to Clyde and Mabel Loutsenhizer. She studied and became proficient on the clarinet, having studied for 8 years throughout junior high and high school...
.
Between 1973-1975, Hal played in the Cannonball Adderley Quintet replacing George Duke
George Duke
George Duke is a multi-faceted American musician, known as a keyboard pioneer, composer, singer and producer in both jazz and popular mainstream musical genres. He has worked with numerous acclaimed artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and professor of music...
. He performed in New York and Chicago jazz clubs in the late 1970s. Around this time, Galper recorded several times with guitarist John Scofield
John Scofield
John Scofield , often referred to as "Sco," is an American jazz guitarist and composer, who has played and collaborated with Miles Davis, Dave Liebman, Joe Henderson, Charles Mingus, Joey Defrancesco, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell, Pat Martino, Mavis Staples, Phil Lesh, Billy Cobham,...
for the Enja
Enja Records
Enja Records is a German jazz record label based in Munich, Germany. It was founded by jazz enthusiasts Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber in 1971....
label.
For 10 years (1980–1990) he was a member of Phil Woods
Phil Woods
Philip Wells Woods is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer.-Biography:...
' Quintet.
Hal left the Woods group in August 1990 to start touring and recording with his new trio with Steve Ellington on drums and Jeff Johnson
Jeff Johnson (bass player)
Jeff Johnson is an American jazz bassist. He has led his own groups and worked with Jessica Williams, Hal Galper, Bud Shank, Chet Baker, Lew Tabackin, Barney Kessel, Charlie Rouse, and others...
on bass. From 1990-1999, Hal's group was on the road six months a year.
Galper is internationally known as an educator. His theoretical and practical articles have appeared in six of Down Beat
Down Beat
Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
editions and his scholarly article on the Psychology of Stage fright, originally published in the Jazz Educators Journal, has subsequently been reprinted in four other publications.
Hal is on the faculty of Purchase College and The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music
The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music
The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music is the second conservatory of The New School university. It is located on 13th Street in New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood.-History:...
.
As leader
- Inner Journey (Mainstream)
- Reachout (Steeplechase)
- Children of the Night (Double Time)
- Agents of Change (Fabola Records)
- Rebop (Fabola Records)
- Now Hear This (ENJA)
As Sideman
With Chet BakerChet Baker
Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker, Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and singer.Though his music earned him a large following , Baker's popularity was due in part to his "matinee idol-beauty" and "well-publicized drug habit."He died in 1988 in Amsterdam, the...
- The Most Important Album Of 1964-65 (Colpix)
- Live At Fat Tuesday's (Fresh Sounds)
With Cannonball Adderley
- Inside StraightInside Straight (album)Inside Straight is a live album by jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley recorded at the Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California in 1973 featuring performances by Adderley's Quintet with Nat Adderley, Hal Galper, Walter Booker and Roy McCurdy with guest percussionist King Errisson...
(1973) - Love, Sex, and the ZodiacLove, Sex, and the ZodiacLove, Sex, and the Zodiac is an album by jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley recorded in Berkeley, California in 1970, but not released on the Fantasy label until 1974, featuring performances by Adderley's Quintet featuring Nat Adderley, Hal Galper, Walter Booker and Roy McCurdy with guest...
(1973) - PyramidPyramid (Cannonball Adderley album)Pyramid is an album by jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley recorded at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California in 1974 featuring performances by Adderley's Quintet with Nat Adderley, Hal Galper, Walter Booker and Roy McCurdy with guest appearances by Phil Upchurch, George Duke, and Jimmy Jones...
(1974)
With Nat Adderley
Nat Adderley
Nathaniel Adderley was an American jazz cornet and trumpet player who played in the hard bop and soul jazz genres. He was the brother of saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley....
- Double ExposureDouble Exposure (album)-Track listing:# "Watermelon Man" - 3:37 # "Go and Pass" - 4:20 # "Quit It" - 3:46 # "Conant 19" - 5:02 # "Traffic" - 4:05 # "In a Silent Way" - 5:20...
(1975)
With Phil Woods
Phil Woods
Philip Wells Woods is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer.-Biography:...
- Birds of a Feather (Antilles)
- Bop Stew (Concord)
- Boquet (Concord)
- All Birds Children (Concord)
With John Scofield
John Scofield
John Scofield , often referred to as "Sco," is an American jazz guitarist and composer, who has played and collaborated with Miles Davis, Dave Liebman, Joe Henderson, Charles Mingus, Joey Defrancesco, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell, Pat Martino, Mavis Staples, Phil Lesh, Billy Cobham,...
- Rough HouseRough House (John Scofield album)-Personnel:*John Scofield - guitar*Hal Galper - piano*Stafford James - bass*Adam Nussbaum - drums...
(1978)
With Sam Rivers
Sam Rivers
Samuel Carthorne Rivers , is an American jazz musician and composer. He performs on soprano and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet, flute, harmonica and piano....
- A New ConceptionA New ConceptionA New Conception is the third album by American saxophonist Sam Rivers recorded in 1966 and released on the Blue Note label. The album features Rivers' interpretation of seven jazz standard's.-Reception:...
(1966, Blue Note)