Hal Galper Quartet: Cubist

Straightahead / Mainstream Jazz
premiera polska: 2018-05-14,
Wydawnicto Audiofilskie
kontynent: Ameryka Północna
kraj: USA
opakowanie: digipackowe etui
opis:
multikulti.com - ocena * * * * 1/2:
Przy muzykach pokroju Hala Galpera wszystko nabiera innych znaczeń. Współpracownik Cheta Bakera, Sama Riversa. Stana Getza, Lee Konitza, Joe Williamsa, Anity O'Day i Chris Connor, kilkuletni członek słynnego Cannonball Adderley Quintet i stały członek Phil Woods Quintet nigdy nie zaznał sławy swoich docenianych współpracowników. Od czasu, gdy usłyszałem płytę "A New Conception" Sama Riversa (1966, Blue Note), wiedziałem, że mam o czynienia z zawodnikiem wagi ciężkiej!
Najnowsza płyta Hal Galper Quartet "Cubist" jest tego kolejnym potwierdzeniem.

Wielopokoleniowy kwartet z Jerry'm Bergonzim na tenorze, Jeffem Johnsonem na kontrabasie i Johnem Bishopem za perkusją prezentuje muzykę pełną wigoru, jazzowej interakcji i soczystych fraz, zaprawionych we wspólnym spontanicznym muzykowaniu jazzmanów. Tam gdzie trzeba uderza nas dynamizm i zgranie zespołu, innym razem lekko abstrakcyjna pianistyka Galpera, jeszcze innym balladowy ton godny parwdziwych mistrzów.

Hal Galper to pianista, który nie boi się zagrać prostej melodii, chciałoby się przywołać tu słowa innego wielkiego pianisty - Keitha Jarretta, który powiedział kiedyś "Melodia zawsze zwycięży". To w końcu melodie dają możliwość twórczej improwizacji, tworzenia innowacyjnych akordów i harmonii, eksperymentowania ze zmiennym rytmem.

Osiem utworów, trzy standardy (SOLAR Milesa Davisa, ISRAEL Johna Carisiego i IN A SENTIMENTAL MOOD Duke'a Ellingtona) plus jedna autorstwa Galpera i cztery autorstwa kontrabasisty zespołu - Jeffa Johnsona zamknięte w niespełna 60 minutach, to istota piękna jazzu, świetne solówki wyśmienitych instrumentalistów, bez zbędnego gwiazdorzenia i zbędnych przepychanek, bezpretensjonalne granie, wspaniałe muzyczne porozumienie i wielkie doświadczenie. Ot, prosta muzyka, nic odkrywczego, ale życia jest tu tyle, że dałoby się obdzielić nim wiele jazzowych zespołów.
autor: Andrzej Majak
Copyright © 1996-2017 Multikulti Project. All rights reserved

Editor's info:
With his focus on ‘the art of the trio’ since moving on from the Phil Woods Quintet in the late ‘80s - the last decade incorporating his innovative development of trio ‘Rubato’ playing into 7 albums on Origin Records - pianist Hal Galper made a major, personal musical statement in adding his old friend and saxophone titan Jerry Bergonzi to a late 2016 tour and live recording. Diving into the ‘Rubato’ deep end with the trio, Bergonzi provided another dimension and an added spark, opening unforeseen avenues to the trio and quickly becoming an integral part of Galper’s musical concepts. Thus, the Hal Galper Quartet, featuring Jerry Bergonzi! Recorded at Cleveland’s Tri-C, Tommy LiPuma Center for Creative Arts, the quartet recorded live in an open session format with a small but involved audience. Bassist Jeff Johnson contributed much of the music for the tour and four of the tracks for the recording. His composition “Cubist,” provided the implied visual of a subject with many parts out of place or overly-dramatized, offering new perspectives on a familiar image, and a fine metaphor for the music. “...a moment of thrilling uncertainty, slightly airborne and stretched out in unusual shapes and motions, and (the moment extended) out for the length of a song, each and every time.” - Wondering Sound.

In his fifth decade as a major jazz artist, Hal Galper continues the innovation that has made him one of today's most surprising and satisfying pianists. Galper's 21st century series of trio albums for Origin Records incorporates his development of 'Rubato' playing as a means of melding melodic lyricism with the rhythmic excitement and "sound of surprise" of the bebop tradition, deepening the jazz experience for musicians and listeners alike.

"...the high level of integration and communication the trio displays is rare and quite thrilling to experience." - Downbeat.

"He has also found two like-minded musical brothers in bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer John Bishop, versatile and sophisticated players who can keep up with his 'Rubato' concept, one of playing loose and free with tempo and harmony - even structure - twisting the familiar forms like a rubber band, then pulling them back and letting them fly free." - All About Jazz.

A student of the piano from the age of six, Galper entered the Berklee School of Music in Boston on a scholarship in 1955 and studied technique with the famous Madam Chaloff. He quickly gravitated to the city's jazz clubs, supplementing his formal Berklee training by studying the performances of such Boston stalwarts as Jaki Byard, Sam Rivers and Herb Pomeroy. It wasn't long before Galper had soaked up enough practical jazz knowledge that he was employed as house pianist at The Stables, Lennie's On The Turnpike and Connelly's, leading Boston jazz emporiums.

Beginning his international performing career in a three-year stint with trumpeter Chet Baker, he went on to be an integral member of the bands of Cannonball Adderley and Phil Woods. He also worked with Sam Rivers, Joe Henderson, Lee Konitz and Roy Eldridge, among dozens of other major jazz figures. Supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, Galper formed one of his most critically acclaimed groups as a leader in the early '70s. With trumpeter Randy Brecker, his saxophonist brother Michael, bassist Wayne Dockery and drummer Billy Hart, the new Hal Galper Quintet debuted at Sweet Basil in New York's Greenwich Village, eventually recording four albums including Reach Out, Speak With a Single Voice, Children Of The Night and Redux 78.

Galper's discography includes 99 albums, with 32 of them under his name. He is a leader not only as a performer but also as an educator, with emphasis on theory, performance and the worldly side of music as a profession. He was a founding member of New York's New School Of Jazz And Contemporary Music and recently retired from his 14 year tenure at Purchase Conservatory. His best selling theory of Forward Motion, was the first interactive E-book in which its more than 300 musical examples could be played in a computer browser. It offers insights into the workings of melodies, secrets of phrasing and ways of practicing to enhance jazz performance. Both the E-book and hard cover edition of Forward Motion along with information on his other books and writings are available at www.halgalper.com.

'. . . a moment of thrilling uncertainty, slightly airborne and stretched out in unusual shapes and motions, and (the moment extended) out for the length of a song, each and every time. ' Wondering Sound

' . . . the high level of integration and communication the trio displays is rare and quite thrilling to experience. . . ' Downbeat

muzycy:
Jerry Bergonzi - tenor saxophone
Hal Galper - piano
Jeff Johnson - bass
John Bishop - drums

utwory:
1. SOLAR 5:50 Miles Davis
2. ISRAEL 9:06 John Carisi
3. ARTISTS 5:20 Jeff Johnson
4. KIWI 11:28 Jeff Johnson
5. CUBIST 8:06 Jeff Johnson
6. SCENE WEST 12:57 Jeff Johnson
7. IN A SENTIMENTAL MOOD 7:27 Duke Ellington
8. SCUFFLIN' 8:29 Hal Galper

total time - 01:09:03
wydano: 2018-03-19
nagrano: Recorded October 14, 2016, at Tommy LiPuma Center Tri-C, Cleveland, OH

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