ERROLL GARNER - Ready Take One
Sony Legacy
Erroll Garner: piano; Jimmie Smith: drums (1-8, 10-14); Ernest McCarty: bass: (1, 2, 5, 6, 11); Ike Isaac: bass (3, 4,7, 8, 10, 12, 13); George Duvivier: bass (9); Larry Gales: bass (14); Jose Mangual: conga.
Erroll Garner is a puzzle. His music can lift your spirit and yet in the current climate he is not taken seriously. If you mention that you admire the pianist, you are almost dicing with your credibility. Garner was pushed into the background by a cerebral pianists like Bill Evans and Lennie Tristano.
Martha Glaser, who managed Garner had, over the years, amassed a treasure trove of thousands of tape reels of music—live concerts, studio sessions, rehearsals. Glaser died in 2014. Susan Rosenberg, her niece, inherited and with professional help has produced ‘Ready Take One’ from the stockpile of Garner and his trio from 1967–71. There will be more.
The sound, for the most part is splendid. Last year there was the extended version of ‘The Complete Concert By The Sea’. That was not a great sounding recording but the ebullience and Erroll’s creativity broke through.
On the current album we have a mixture of standards and originals by Erroll. There are joys in all of them. If you know anything about Erroll you will know about his intros. They are a trademark and they are very musical, listening to how he resolved a seemingly impossible musical conundrum is satisfying and very enjoyable.
‘Caravan’ is one highlight. Erroll at first fractures the rhythm. This is one of the tracks with Jose Mangual on conga and his pulsating rhythm aids Erroll (not that he needs much). The central section is an improvisation of a very high order where he twists and pounds this old tune extracting new aspects. Later he simplifies his thoughts but continues to explore. 6.24 of pure joy. It’s all there: the boogie, the stride, that wonderful left hand, the lagging rhythm, the braggadocio, back beyond bop, jazz history.
‘I Want To Be Happy’ shows the way that Erroll spins out his whirlwind improvisations without resorting to any clichés except for his own. You realise that he is a virtuoso. Martha Glaser, enraptured, is captured on the tape calling for more.
Erroll is one aspect of jazz and we ignore his joie de vivre at our peril. You don’t have to listen to a constant diet of Erroll but some time when you feel depressed this man can raise you up and this album will do that, have you floating, if you surrender to it.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
Sony Legacy
Erroll Garner: piano; Jimmie Smith: drums (1-8, 10-14); Ernest McCarty: bass: (1, 2, 5, 6, 11); Ike Isaac: bass (3, 4,7, 8, 10, 12, 13); George Duvivier: bass (9); Larry Gales: bass (14); Jose Mangual: conga.
Erroll Garner is a puzzle. His music can lift your spirit and yet in the current climate he is not taken seriously. If you mention that you admire the pianist, you are almost dicing with your credibility. Garner was pushed into the background by a cerebral pianists like Bill Evans and Lennie Tristano.
Martha Glaser, who managed Garner had, over the years, amassed a treasure trove of thousands of tape reels of music—live concerts, studio sessions, rehearsals. Glaser died in 2014. Susan Rosenberg, her niece, inherited and with professional help has produced ‘Ready Take One’ from the stockpile of Garner and his trio from 1967–71. There will be more.
The sound, for the most part is splendid. Last year there was the extended version of ‘The Complete Concert By The Sea’. That was not a great sounding recording but the ebullience and Erroll’s creativity broke through.
On the current album we have a mixture of standards and originals by Erroll. There are joys in all of them. If you know anything about Erroll you will know about his intros. They are a trademark and they are very musical, listening to how he resolved a seemingly impossible musical conundrum is satisfying and very enjoyable.
‘Caravan’ is one highlight. Erroll at first fractures the rhythm. This is one of the tracks with Jose Mangual on conga and his pulsating rhythm aids Erroll (not that he needs much). The central section is an improvisation of a very high order where he twists and pounds this old tune extracting new aspects. Later he simplifies his thoughts but continues to explore. 6.24 of pure joy. It’s all there: the boogie, the stride, that wonderful left hand, the lagging rhythm, the braggadocio, back beyond bop, jazz history.
‘I Want To Be Happy’ shows the way that Erroll spins out his whirlwind improvisations without resorting to any clichés except for his own. You realise that he is a virtuoso. Martha Glaser, enraptured, is captured on the tape calling for more.
Erroll is one aspect of jazz and we ignore his joie de vivre at our peril. You don’t have to listen to a constant diet of Erroll but some time when you feel depressed this man can raise you up and this album will do that, have you floating, if you surrender to it.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
