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Hal Galper's Newsletter
Spring 09
Origin Records CEO
John Bishop and I have come to an unprecedented agreement
in the music business; a lifetime recording partenership.
Origin has agreed to release every album I record for the
rest of my life! I warned John that my Mom is 96 and
still going strong, and I have her genes. That being the
case, now being 70 years old, knock on wood, I could
release another 25 albums. This agreement gives me the
rare opportunity to plan my recordings as a series of
continued explorations. This latest
recording "Art-Work," follows in the footsteps of last
years first critically acclaimed (click
here)
Origin release "Furious Rubato." Recorded live at William
Paterson University's Jazz Room Series, "Art-Work"
features jazz icons Reggie Workman on bass and Rashied
Ali on drums. Album Selections:
"Takin' The Coltrane," "Soul Bod," "Blue In Green,"
"Constellation," "Stella By Starlight," "Soliloquy," and
"When Autumn Leaves Us." Later this year
Origin will release our October '08 live trio recording
"E Pluribus Unim" with "Agents
Of
Change"
(Fabola Records) cohorts Billy Mintz (Drm) and Tony
Marino (Bs) Alfred Publishing
finally reissued "The Touring Musician." You can read the
rave reviews and buy a new or used hard copy on Amazon by
clicking on the book cover. !!!NOW
AVAILABLE IN PDF FORMAT!!! A discounted
digital version of The Touring Musican can now be
downloaded from my
Forward
Motion
web site OTHER
NEWS The
Detroit JazzStage Spotlite Channel
is
broadcasting a podcast with voice interview and the track
"Waiting For Chet" from our "Agents Of Change"
CD. Vocalist David
Thorne Scott features a track of one of my original
samba's with his lyrics "Night's
Affair With
Day" on
his new CD "Dyad." David was one of the vocalists on my
"Desire" recording. Last summer's issue
of "The Note" published by the Al Cohn Memorial Jazz
Collection at East Stroudsburg University printed my
tongue in cheek testimonial to my mentor Herb Pomeroy.
Titled "Bandstand
101."
Talk about learning on the bandstand! I had the good
fortune to study "The Schillinger System" while it was
still being taught at Berklee in the late '50's. In the
interim this valuable course has been dropped from its
curriculum. Through diligent research Philip Ditullio has
created the "Schillinger
Society."
At the time I studied Schillinger I had a hard time
understanding its value. It was only many years later
that I realized the effect taking the course had on my
general conception. It showed me there were reasons why
some things sounded good and others not. The Society is
offering courses to those who may be
interested. Marty Kahn is a man
to listen to. He's been a music business mentor for me
for over 20 years. His book "Straight
Ahead"
is the last word on the music business and should be on
every musicians bookshelf. If you want to know the truth
about the music business read his articles at
allaboutjazz.com. You'll never be the
same! "Impulsive-Compulsive-Repulsive" I am very pleased
to announce the Joel Chriss Agency as exclusive agent for
my "Summit Trio, featuring Rashied Ali (Drm) and Juris
Teepe (Bs)." Contact:
212:353-0855 info@jchriss.com Check out my
tour calendar for where we've been last year and
upcoming gigs in your area. Our February
Trio tour with Reggie Workman and Rashied Ali was an
incredible musical experience. It was a chance to
explore the "Rubato Concept" with musicians who, with
their work with John Coltrane, are masters of the
idiom. Special thanks
to: Sabrina Brown and the Pentangle Council on the
Arts, Adam Markowitz at Adam's Space and especially
Dave Demsey at William Paterson University. Without
their support this "Art-Work: would never have been
recorded. In March the
Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, CA hosted premier
guitarist John Stowell and I for a concert. A few days
later John and I gave a masterclass at the University
of San Diego on Rubato improvising. April 1st.
Berklee College of Music sponsored its Herb Pomeroy
Tribute concert.
At the end of
April I was invited to play Seattle's Ballard Festival
that featured a trio performance with Jeff Johnson
(Bs) and John Bishop (Drm). The next evening was a
highlight for me; a trio concert with special guest
Lee Konitz. I had played, toured and recorded
("Windows")
with Lee in a duo setting for nine months in the
'70's, every moment and edge-of-your-seat joy. He's
plays as free as anybody can. In October
pianist Phil Markowitz and I played solo piano
opposite each other at East Stroudsburg University's
Jazz Synergy Series" ***************************************** A
duo ballad "It's Magic" from the same
concert Also a few tunes
with Phil's quintet featuring Tommy
Harrell: ***************************************** Ending this
newsletter on an upbeat; this is one of my favorite
Ahmad Jamal tracks from the TV show "The Robert
Herridge Theater." There is no greater groove than
this. An interesting
sidenote to this concert: You'll see Ben Webster
leaning on the piano during Ahmad's performance. Ahmad
told me Ben was one of his piano teachers. I later
found an audio tape of Ben playing piano and sent it
to him as a Christmas present. Many months later
Drummer Bill Goodwin ran into Ahmad in Switzerland
where he gave Bill a note to me on yellow lined paper:
"To Hal 4/28/89. Bless you for the tape, Ahmad." I
have his blessing proudly framed on my studio
wall. Hal
Galper
Played a
tune with The Berklee Concert Orchestra and a real
delight, a quartet performance of "Hothouse" with Joe
Lovano, John Repucci (Bs) and Artie Cabral (Drm). This
is one of my favorite Rubato soloes, if I do say so
myself. Much fun!
Some new
videos showed up on youtube.
Quincy
Jones has started a petition to ask
President-Elect Obama to appoint a Secretary of
the Arts. While many other countries have
had Ministers of Art or Culture for centuries, The
United States has never created such a position.
We in the arts need this and the country needs the
arts--now more than ever. Please take a
moment to sign this important petition and then pass
it on to your friends and colleagues.