(Mike & Randy Brecker) 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.
5-STARS: DownBeat / BBC Music Magazine
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-worldly 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 imagination.
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Hal Galper - piano
Randy Brecker - trumpet, flugelhorn
Michael Brecker - tenor saxophone
Wayne Dockery - bass
Bob Moses - drums
Produced for release by Hal Galper & John Bishop
Recorded live at Berliner Jazztage '77, Berliner Philharmonie
on November 4, 1977, except Disc 1/Track 3: Recorded at
Berliner Philharmonie on January 11, 1978
Berlin Jazz Days Artistic Director: George Gruntz
ZDF concert telecast produced by Reinhard Knieper
Mastered by Dan Dean, Dan Dean Productions, Mercer Island, WA
Liner notes by Paul Rauch
Cover design & layout by John Bishop