Harold Galper (born April 18, 1938) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader, educator, and writer.

Biography

He was born in

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...

, United States. Galper studied classical piano as a boy, but switched to jazz which he studied at the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

from 1955 to 1958. He hung out at Herb Pomeroy's club, the Stable, hearing local Boston musicians such as

Jaki Byard John Arthur "Jaki" Byard (; June 15, 1922 – February 11, 1999) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and arranger. Mainly a pianist, he also played tenor and alto saxophones, among several other instruments. He was known for hi ...

Alan Dawson Alan Dawson (July 14, 1929 – February 23, 1996) was an American jazz drummer and percussion teacher based in Boston. Biography Dawson was born in Marietta, Pennsylvania and raised in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Serving in the U.S. Army during th ...

and Sam Rivers. Galper started sitting in and became the house pianist at the Stable and later on, at Connelly's and Lenny's on the Turnpike. He went on to work in Pomeroy's band. Later on he worked with

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

and

Stan Getz Stanley Getz (February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of ...

and accompanied vocalists Joe Williams,

Anita O'Day Anita Belle Colton (October 18, 1919 – November 23, 2006), known professionally as Anita O'Day, was an American jazz singer and self proclaimed “song stylist” widely admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appe ...

, and

Chris Connor Mary Jean Loutsenhizer, known professionally as Chris Connor (November 8, 1927 – August 29, 2009) was an American jazz singer. Biography Chris Connor was born Mary Loutsenhizer in Kansas City, Missouri, to Clyde Loutsenhizer and Mabel Shir ...

. Between 1973 and 1975, Galper played in the

Cannonball Adderley Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928August 8, 1975) was an American jazz alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s. Adderley is perhaps best remembered for the 1966 soul jazz single "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", whi ...

Quintet replacing

George Duke George M. Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a pr ...

. He performed in New York and Chicago jazz clubs in the late 1970s. Around this time, Galper recorded several times with guitarist

John Scofield John Scofield (born December 26, 1951), sometimes referred to as "Sco", is an American guitarist and composer whose music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention in the ...

for the

Enja Enja Records is a German jazz record company and label based in Munich which was founded by jazz enthusiasts Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber in 1971. The label's first release was by Mal Waldron, and early releases included European and Ja ...

label. For 10 years (1980–1990) he was a member of

Phil Woods Philip Wells Woods (November 2, 1931 – September 29, 2015) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader, and composer. Biography Woods was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. After inheriting a saxophone at age 12, he began ...

's quintet. Galper left the Woods group in August 1990 to start touring and recording with his new trio with Steve Ellington on drums and Jeff Johnson on bass. From 1990 to 1999, his group was on the road six months a year. Galper is internationally known as an educator. His theoretical and practical articles have appeared in six of ''

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' editions. His scholarly article on the psychology of stage fright, originally published in the ''Jazz Educators Journal'', has subsequently been reprinted in four other publications. He is on the faculty of

Purchase College Purchasing is the process a business or organization uses to acquire goods or services to accomplish its goals. Although there are several organizations that attempt to set standards in the purchasing process, processes can vary greatly between ...

and

the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music School of Jazz and Contemporary Music is the second conservatory of The New School. It is located on West 13th Street in New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood. It was known as The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music before it wa ...

Discography

As leader

As sideman

With

* '' Inside Straight'' (Fantasy, 1973) * '' Love, Sex, and the Zodiac'' (Fantasy, 1973) * ''

Pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

'' (Fantasy, 1974) With

Nat Adderley Nathaniel Carlyle Adderley (November 25, 1931 – January 2, 2000) was an American jazz trumpeter. He was the younger brother of saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, whom he supported and played with for many years. Adderley's composition " ...

* ''

Double Exposure In photography and cinematography, a multiple exposure is the superimposition of two or more exposures to create a single image, and double exposure has a corresponding meaning in respect of two images. The exposure values may or may not be ide ...

'' (Prestige, 1975) With

Franco Ambrosetti Franco Ambrosetti (born 10 December 1941) is a jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and composer. He was born in Lugano, Switzerland; his father, Flavio, was a saxophonist who once played opposite Charlie Parker.Heartbop ''Heartbop'' is an album by the flugelhornist and composer Franco Ambrosetti which was recorded in 1981 and released on the Enja label.

'' (Enja, 1981) With

* '' The Most Important Jazz Album of 1964/65'' (Colpix, 1964) * '' Baby Breeze'' (Limelight, 1965) * ''Live at Fat Tuesday's'' (Fresh Sound, 1981) With

Randy Brecker Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was born on Nov ...

* '' Score'' (Solid State, 1969) With

Tom Harrell Tom Harrell (born June 16, 1946) is an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, composer, and arranger. Voted Trumpeter of the Year of 2018 by ''Jazz Journalists Association'', Harrell has won awards and grants throughout his career, including mul ...

* ''Open Air'' (

SteepleChase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

, 1986) With Sam Rivers * ''

A New Conception ''A New Conception'' is the third album by American saxophonist Sam Rivers, recorded in 1966 and released on the Blue Note label.

'' (Blue Note, 1966) With

* '' Rough House'' (1978) * ''Ivory Forest'' (1979) With

* ''Birds of a Feather'' (Antilles) * ''Bop Stew'' (Concord) * ''Boquet'' (Concord) * ''All Birds Children'' (Concord) * ''

Dizzy Gillespie Meets Phil Woods Quintet ''Dizzy Gillespie Meets Phil Woods Quintet'' is an album by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie with saxophonist Phil Woods Quintet recorded in 1986 and released on the Dutch Timeless label.

'' (Timeless, 1986)

Bibliography

*''Forward Motion: From Bach To Bebop. A Corrective Approach to Jazz Phrasing'', AuthorHouse, 17 July 2003, *''The Touring Musician: A Small Business Approach to Booking Your Band on the Road'', Alfred Publishing, 10 January 2007,

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Galper, Hal 1938 births Living people American jazz pianists American male pianists Mainstream Records artists Enja Records artists SteepleChase Records artists 20th-century American pianists 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Cannonball Adderley Quintet members Double-Time Records artists Origin Records artists