Live at the Berlin Philharmonic, 1977

Born in 1938, he has remained a "musicians' musician" despite a long career as an instrumentalist, band leader, composer, arranger and teacher. He was a member of the Cannonball Adderley quintet for almost three years, followed by a further ten in that of Phil Woods. In the second half of the 1970s he himself headed a band whose line-up is easy to find: the two Brecker brothers Randy and Mike formed the explosive front line, Wayne Dockery (not to be confused with the ex-Messenger Sam) on bass and Billy Hart or Bob Moses on drums completed the rhythm section. This quintet can be heard in studio recordings, but of course it only unfolded its full potential on stage - in contact with an electrified crowd. And that brings us to the present publication, which captures the appearance of Galper's "adventurous post-bop group" (based on Ken Dryden in all-music.com) on November 4th, 1977 in Berlin Jazz Days. None of the "regular" pieces are shorter than twelve and a half minutes, only the encore, the soul jazz-style "Hey Fool", counts "only" nine and a half. All these minutes have it all: Jazz has a competitive, athletic side - which is practically embodied by the high-speed group documented here. It is cohesive enough to work as a unit, but it gives the individual members a lot, a lot of freedom in which they can pursue the music in every nook and cranny. The energy that is generated is breathtaking and even a ballad like the song "I'll Never Stop Loving You" from January 1978, included as a "bonus", becomes his solo tour de force in the hands of Mike Brecker.