Pianist Red Garland is best known as the pianist Miles Davis hired in 1955 when pianist Ahmad Jamal turned him down. Davis was in awe of Ahmad's modernist, bluesy swinging style on the keyboard, so much that after he hired Garland, he recorded songs such as Surrey With the Fringe on Top, A Gal in Calico and Billy Boy with Garland playing virtually the same way as Ahmad's earlier recordings.
As Ahmad told me in an interview a few years back, "I was the leader of a trio at the time and Miles was a leader. Why should I join his group and give that up any more than he should join my group?"
Both Ahmad and Davis thrived during the 1950s. So did Garland, who played behind Davis and John Coltrane while also recording superb leadership albums for Prestige. It's important to note that Garland wasn't an Ahmad Jamal clone. Both pianists could swing effortlessly, both loved soloing with their right hand on the higher end of the keyboard and both used their left hand percussively as a punctuating accompanist for their right hand. In most cases, Garland was meatier in his attack and more dramatic than Jamal, often using single-line improvisation that climaxed in waves of block chords.
Garland recorded for Prestige from 1955 to 1962—from Musings of Miles (1955) to When There Are Grey Skies (1962). At which point Garland took a nine-year hiatus. During this period, he moved home to Dallas, Texas, to take care of his ailing mother. When he returned to the studio in May 1971, he recorded two albums— Auf Wiedersehen and The Quota.
The albums appear on the German MPS label and were recorded in New York by American producer Don Schlitten (above). Though recorded in 1971, they weren't released until '75. It's unclear why there was a gap in time. Of the two albums, The Quota is clearly the superior recording.
What makes The Quota so dynamic is the inclusion of tenor saxophonist Jimmy Heath, who played soprano sax on two tracks—Henry Mancini's For Carl and the standard Love for Sale. The other musicians here, in addition to Garland, are Peck Morrison (b) and Lennie McBrowne (d). Garland always seemed at the top of his game when going head to head with a bossy saxophonist, and Heath doesn't disappoint. His big sound and commanding improvisation pushed Garland to work harder in support. So when Garland solos, he's spring-loaded and spirited.
The remaining tracks on the album are Heath's title track, The Days of Wine and Roses, Tadd Dameron's The Squirrel and On a Clear Day, an extraordinary rendition with Heath soaring and Garland swinging and driving your right foot crazy.
Garland would go on to record for Galaxy, Muse and Baystate as well as a few other labels. It's hard to know how Garland would have fared in the 1960s had he not been off the scene for so long. Odds are he would have recorded "hits of the day" albums. Then again, Red Garland Plays Burt Bacharach and Hal David or Garland on Broadway might have been compelling. Imagine an ultra-slow People by Garland, taken at the same pace as Since I Fell From You from It's a Blue World (1958). Or an uptempo I Say a Little Prayer, with his signature run-and-pounce solo approach featuring lightning-fast treble lines that resolve in two-handed block chords. We'll never know. What we do know is that Garland in '71 still had his chops on The Quota.
Red Garland died in 1984.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Red Garland's The Quota (MPS) here.
JazzWax clips: Here's On a Clear Day, with Jimmy Heath on tenor saxophone...
