Hal Galper: E Pluribus Unum

Straightahead / Pianistyka Jazzowa
premiera polska: 2015-07-29
kontynent: Ameryka Północna
kraj: USA
opakowanie: digipackowe etui
opis:
allaboutjazz.com * * * *
Pianist Hal Galper began his journey into "rubato" playing early on in the new millennium, after a quite vibrant career in the mainstream, playing and recording with the likes of all-star alto saxophonists Phil Woods and Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, legendary trumpeter Chet Baker and guitarist John Scofield. It hasn't always been a smooth ride. At a show with guitarist John Stowell at Carlsbad, California's Museum of Making Music back in 2007, drawing a rather conservative crowd—a group of listeners that was expecting, perhaps, a traditional approach to the standards—grumblings could be heard in the folding chaired audience, hushed comments like, "Why doesn't he play "How Deep is the Ocean" straight? I almost couldn't recognize it."

The term "rubato" refers to a flexibility in approach to tempo, the speeding up or slowing down of the rhythm at the artists' discretion. Nobody does this quite as furiously as Hal Galper, and with bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer John Bishop, he has hooked up with two like-minded compatriots.

Previous Galper recordings in this style include Agents of Change (Fabola Records, 2006), Furious Rubato (Origin Records, 2007), and Art-Work (Origin Records, 2009). All of these are exciting musical adventures, but E Pluribus Unum—with, again, Johnson and Bishop—is the most electrifying of the batch, due certainly to the on-the-edge freshness and vitality of the sound's live aspect.

Irving Berlin's "How Deep is the Ocean" opens the show, and it is a turbulent sea, wind whipped and wildly churning. The trio plays with a sense of abandon, but the thread of the familiar melody doesn't break. Other non-originals include a particularly prickly version of Duke Ellington's "Take the Coltrane," and a calamitous reading of Charlie Parker's "Constellation" to close the show. In between, Galper includes four tunes from his own pen, starting with the searing, headlong "Rapunzel's Luncheonette," the reflective but still energetic "Wandering Spirit," and the aptly-titled "Invitation to Openness."

The appreciative crowd, the night of this recording at the 2009 Earshot Jazz Festival, accepted that invitation, and E Pluribus Unum permanently documents Galper taking his artistry to a new level.
By DAN MCCLENAGHAN

AllMusic Guide
Hal Galper's working trio with bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer John Bishop has broken free of the typical expectations of a piano trio. Recorded over two days at the 2009 Earshot Jazz Festival in Seattle, Galper challenges the crowd to join them in their explorations. The pianist's wonderfully abstract approach to the venerable standard "How Deep Is the Ocean" avoids stating the melody outright and doesn't allow the listener to get used to one rhythm, opting instead to skim over its chord changes in waves that suggest the ever-changing nature of the sea. Galper's breezy interpretation of Duke Ellington's blues "Take the Coltrane" (composed for his studio meeting with John Coltrane) is a more straight-ahead affair, though Galper's wide-ranging improvisations take it deep into post-bop territory. Charlie Parker fans will find that the trio's explosive, dramatic setting of "Constellation" takes them into a new galaxy, barely hinting at this familiar bop favorite. The pianist's compositions are equally potent. The humorously titled "Rapunzel's Luncheonette" is a whirling, free-form firestorm that sounds as if it were improvised on the spot. Galper dedicates the moving ballad "Soliloquy" to Michael Brecker (who died in 2008), a heartfelt piece that wraps with a dramatic finale by the pianist that seems to cry out at the injustice of losing a talented musician and good friend prematurely. Hal Galper is not one to stand still in his comfort zone but continues his stretching of musical boundaries, as he and his trio prove with this rewarding live recording.
by Ken Dryden


muzycy:
HAL GALPER - piano
JEFF JOHNSON - bass
JOHN BISHOP - drums

utwory:
1. How Deep is the Ocean (Berlin) 9:50
2. Rapunzel's Luncheonette (Galper) 11:08
3. Wandering Spirit (Galper) 6:52
4. Take the Coltrane (Ellington) 10:17
5. Invitation to Openness (Galper) 10:29
6. Soliloquy (Galper) 9:14
7. Constellation (C. Parker) 8:50

nagrano: Recorded by Reed Ruddy, live at the Earshot Jazz Festival, Seattle, WA. October 23 & 24, 2009

more info: www.originarts.com
more info2: www.halgalper.com
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