In 1958, when Columbia foolishly released earlier recordings by pianist Erroll Garner without his permission, his manager, Martha Glaser, hit the roof. She accused Columbia of breaching Garner’s contract and had Garner stop recording for the label. Given the high level of sales Garner's albums were generating for Columbia, Glaser sought a more lucrative deal. Columbia balked. In November 1960, Garner sued Columbia Records over his contract's terms. To turn up the heat, he also founded Octave Records, which allowed him to continue recording and gave him greater control over his material and a larger slice of his earnings.
Now, in cooperation with the Garner/Glaser estates, Mack Avenue has just released four Octave albums by Garner, with one reissue a month planned through June 2020, the year of Garner's centenary. The move by Mack Avenue is a blessing, especially since Garner's Octave reissues have been lovingly restored and expanded. Few jazz pianists combined such a masterful touch with exquisite taste and sophisticated humor. Fats Waller is probably the only other player I can think of who shares those qualities. [Photo above of Erroll Garner and Martha Glaser]
The four Garner albums from Mack Avenue and their original recording dates are Dreamstreet (1959); Closeup in Swing (1961); One World Concert (1962), which was recorded at the Seattle World's Fair; and A New Kind of Love (1963). The bonus tracks on these albums feature Garner originals. On Dreamstreet, By Chance was added. On Closeup in Swing, the bonus track is Octave 103.
One World Concert was Garner's first live concert album after Concert By the Sea, and the unreleased track is Other Voices, which has never before been issued in the trio format. There's also a fabulous Misty. On A New Kind of Love, Garner plays his film soundtrack accompanied by a 35-memeber orchestra led by Leith Stevens. All Yours, his theme for the movie, is on par with Misty as far as sheer melodic beauty is concerned.
The material featured on these four new Garner releases is extraordinary. When Martha Glaser died in 2014, there was some concern about how long it would take for Garner's recordings to be released, the terms of those releases and the quality of the material. Columbia's Complete Concert By the Sea was a stunning package authorized by the estate. Ready Take One, released in 2016 by Sony, was a mixed bag due to a lack of planning on the original recording session. Nightconcert (2018), recorded live at Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, was glorious.
And now we have these four gems. Each is exceptionally rich with Garner's cascading waterfall of notes and chords, his jack-in-the-box introductions and his octave attack. And how wonderful there's a new Garner re-issue coming each month from Mack Avenue through June. The more Garner, the merrier.
Erroll Garner died in 1977.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find the four albums above from Mack Avenue here.
JazzWax clips: Here's a promo video for the new releases...
Here's Just One of Those Things from Dreamstreet...
Here's Some of These Days from Closeup in Swing...
Here's Misty from One World Concert...
And here's Louise from A New Kind of Love...
