Hal Mckusik

Equally at home blowing scorching R&B or tasty jazz, Hal "Cornbread" Singer has played and recorded both over a career spanning more than half a century. Singer picked up his early experience as a hornman with various Southwestern territory bands, including the outfits of Ernie Fields, Lloyd Hunter, and Nat Towles. He made it to Kansas City in 1939, working with pianist Jay McShann (whose sax section also included Charlie Parker), before venturing to New York, in 1941, and playing with Hot Lips Page, Earl Bostic, Don Byas, and Roy Eldridge (with whom he first recorded in 1944). After the close of the war, Singer signed on with Lucky Millinder's orchestra…

Loose, soulful and swaggering tenor sax from a pair of legends - Hal Singer and David Murray - fellows who busted boundaries for decades! On Challenge, recorded in Paris in Spring, 2010, they play great, mostly original material with passionate conviction and a a boundless sense of intutitive interplay. Singer and Murray communicate masterfully, and their excellent group includes Rasul Siddik on trumpet, Lafayette Gilchrist on piano, Jaribu Shahid and the always great Hamid Drake on drums.

Psychedelic Percussion definitely sticks to his title. With the help from Paul Beaver of Beaver & Krause (famous keyboard wizard and sound engineer for the likes of Stevie Wonder), vibe master Emil Richards (check is two fantastic album on Impulse! with The Microtonal Blues Band featuring Joe Porcaro, father of the famed Toto brothers) and Gary Coleman (percussionist in the famous Wrecking Crew), Blaine goes wild in the studio with drums, gong, xylophone, organ, bongos, congas and timpani. Unusual textures and tones lead the way to 12 instrumental exotic numbers similar in a way to Raymond Scott most visionary experiments.

This is a fun set of heated swing with early R&B overtones. The title cut is a real romp, with tenor saxophonist Hal Singer and trumpeter Charlie Shavers not only constructing exciting solos but riffing behind each other. With the exception of the standard "With a Song in My Heart," Singer and Shavers wrote the remainder of the repertoire, and with the assistance of a particularly strong rhythm section (pianist Ray Bryant, bassist Wendell Marshall and drummer Osie Johnson), there are many fine moments on this enjoyable set.

Pianist Hal Galper's interpretations of eight familiar standards on this trio set with bassist Ray Drummond and drummer Billy Hart are consistently surprising and unpredictable. "Giant Steps" is treated as a sensitive out-of-tempo ballad, "What Is This Thing Called Love" begins with abstract chordings over a riff reminiscent of "Manteca" before the trio launches into a very fast tempo, "If I Didn't Care" is given a melancholy countermelody and "Azure" is made funky. In addiition "I Should Care" and "I'll Be Seeing You" (which are usually dramatic ballads) swing hard. By using the past to create new music, Hal Galper has developed fresh angles to old tunes, and the music on his CD has more than its share of successful surprises.

Although a quartet is listed on this set (pianist Hal Galper, guitarist John Scofield, bassist Wayne Dockery, and drummer Adam Nussbaum), only three of the selections are performed by the full group. Galper's "Continuity" (one of four of his originals) is a piano/guitar duet; Galper also duets with Dockery on "Yellow Days," but sits out altogether on Scofield's solo rendition of "Monk's Mood." Well-played, if not overly memorable, modern mainstream music.

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 imaginatio.

Even with Phil Woods standing out, the "four altos" on this jam session all sound pretty similar. Few listeners will be able to consistently pick out which solos are by Gene Quill and which by Sahib Shihab, Hal Stein or Woods. The solos (and the backup of pianist Mal Waldron, bassist Tommy Potter and drummer Louis Hayes) are generally hard-swinging and well-played, but the strong influence of Charlie Parker makes all of the altoists sound alike.

The Hal Galper Quintet - Children Of The Night (1978) {Double-Time DTRCD-125 rel 1997}
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© 1978, 1997 Double-Time Records | DTRCD-125
Jazz / Post Bop / Piano

This is one of the hottest albums of the ’70s. Recorded at Rosy’s in New Orleans in 1978 (and originally released a year later as Speak With a Single Voice), it features Galper on piano, Michael Brecker on tenor saxophone and flute, Randy Brecker on trumpet and fluegelhorn, Wayne Dockery on bass and Bob Moses on drums. The hornmen (already famous then for their hard-hitting funk-jazz group, the Brecker Brothers) 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.

Hal Galper - Wild Bird (1972) {2017 Japan Mainstream Records Master Collection Series CDSOL-45240}
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© 1972, 2017 Time / Mainstream Records / Solid Records Japan | CDSOL-45240
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Post Bop / Groove / Electric Piano

One of the greatest albums ever recorded by pianist Hal Galper – and that's saying a lot, given his huge legacy of records! This set has Hal working in a strongly electric mode – using an electric piano with the same sort of spacious qualities he could bring to acoustic – never jamming as hard as some of his more dynamic 70s contemporaries, but in a really great way that creates a special energy on the record – not just for Galper, but also for the groupmates, who really seem to bring out their best. The lineup includes Randy Brecker on trumpet and Michael Brecker on tenor and soprano sax – both playing in the darker edges of their sound – and the record also features guitar, bass, and drums. Some moments are funky, but the real stand out tracks have an even more special electric vibe – and titles include "This Moment", "Whatever", "Wild Bird", and "Change Up".