The Zone: Live at the Yardbird Suite

4-STARS When pianist Hal Galper first heard the live recording that became The Zone: Live At The Yardbird Suite, he didn't recognize his own playing. On that November 2016 gig—at the eponymous club in Edmonton, Canada—"the music came from some place deeper," Galper wrote in the album's liner notes. The bandleader, who's a long way from his 1970s electrified workouts on the Mainstream imprint, called that place "the zone," where the affinity with his trio (bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer John Bishop) is spontaneous, tight and magically intuitive. Generated in the zone, these seven exquisite tracks churn with excitement and subtlety under Galper's spellbinding touch.