Hal Galper

Born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1938, Hal Galper began piano studies at the age of six. He entered Boston’s Berklee School of Music in 1955, where he trained under the noted instructor Madame Chaloff. While still a student, he performed regularly in local clubs alongside Sam Rivers, Herb Pomeroy, and Jaki Byard, and served as house pianist at The Stables, Connelly’s, and Lennie’s on the Turnpike. After graduation, he spent three years touring and recording with trumpeter-vocalist Chet Baker, later appearing with Joe Henderson and Cannonball Adderley as well.

By the early 1970s Galper had shifted toward a broader soul-jazz and fusion approach, documented on the 1971 Mainstream albums The Guerilla Band and Wild Bird, both featuring trumpeter Randy Brecker and saxophonist Michael Brecker. A more acoustic trio session, Inner Journey, followed in 1972. He also recorded the straight-ahead duo album Windows with saxophonist Lee Konitz. His 1976 leader date Reach Out again reunited him with the Brecker Brothers. Additional Enja releases from the decade include Now Hear This, recorded with trumpeter Terumasa Hino, and Ivory Forest, featuring guitarist John Scofield.

Throughout the 1980s Galper rejoined Baker and maintained a long association with saxophonist Phil Woods, contributing to fourteen of Woods’s albums. His own releases during this period included the 1982 trio recording Naturally, with bassist Rufus Reid and drummer Victor Lewis, plus Dreamsville (1986) and Time to Remember (1987). After issuing the 1989 trio album Portrait, he returned to a more consistent schedule of solo work on Concord, Enja, and Philology, among them Tippin’ (1992), Rebop (1995), and Let’s Call This That (1999).

In addition to performing, Galper helped establish New York’s New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music and taught at Purchase University until 2014. He also wrote the textbook Forward Motion. Later trio projects comprise Agents of Change (2007), recorded with bassist Tony Marino and drummer Billy Mintz; Art-Work (2009), featuring bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Rashid Ali; and Airegin Revisited (2012), with bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer John Bishop. The 2018 quartet album Cubist spotlighted saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi, while the following year saw the release of the live trio recording The Zone: Live at the Yardbird Suite.