Pianist Red Garland's Groovy was released by Prestige in mid-December 1957. It was an album comprised of songs from three different recording sessions, but they were hardly scraps. All of the tracks were excellent, and the trio throughout featured Garland's working group at the time—Paul Chambers on bass and Art Taylor on drums.
The album was reflective of Garland's piano with the Miles Davis Quintet since 1955. His debut record for Prestige under his own name was A Garland of Red, recorded in August 1956 and released in early January 1957. Then came Red Garland's Piano, recorded mostly in March 1957, with two tracks from a December 1956 session. Albums that came to be known as Red Garland Revisited and The P.C. Blues were recorded in 1956 and '57 but weren't released until 1969 and 1970, respectively. Then came Groovy, his third leadership release. [Photo above of Red Garland]
I'm not sure why Red Garland Revisited and The P.C. Blues were held up so long or why Garland's second and third trio albums were cherry-picked from a range of dates. My guess is that much had to do with the Miles Davis Quintet's touring schedule and their limited studio time. Perhaps the bigger factor was Davis's deal with Prestige owner and producer Bob Weinstock, who probably didn't want too much Garland in the marketplace in the trio format at the same time for fear of presenting too many Garland choices or cannibalizing sales of albums by the Miles Davis Quintet.
From my 2010 interview with Columbia producer George Avakian (above):
JazzWax: What did you tell Miles Davis when you met [in 1955]?
George Avakian: The first thing I said was, “Look, you’ve got to get a group together and hold onto the musicians.” Consistency was important then. You wanted musicians who knew the material and knew how to interact with each other. That’s where the magic was. But retaining the same players also was important for audiences. When you built and promoted a group, that group was what audiences wanted to see and hear.
JW: But Davis was signed to Prestige Records.
GA: That’s right. Miles’ idea was I should record him and hold the Columbia releases until his Prestige contract expired. By then, he said, he would be even better known and we could release the Columbia recordings right away. His point was that we’d get the publicity going instantly instead of waiting the customary three months for an album to be marketed.
JW: But you had a different idea.
GA: We had the same concept in mind but I had a slightly different twist on it.
JW: Which was?
GA: I wanted to sign Miles right away—before he got bigger. Which meant he had to get out of his Prestige contract. Or wrap it up faster. By 1956, he still owed the label four albums.
JW: What did you come up with?
GA: I decided that Miles should record enough material to complete the remaining four Prestige albums to finish up his obligation right away. Prestige’s owner Bob Weinstock knew that Miles was going to sign with Columbia, so there was no real expectation that he would re-sign with Prestige. It was just a question of whether that contract ended sooner or later.
JW: How did you make such an arrangement worthwhile to Weinstock?
GA: By recording all four album’s worth of material at once [in May and October 1956], Prestige would then have an inventory it could release—either one at a time or all at once—starting when our first album [for Columbia] came out. Bob immediately saw the value. [Editor's note: the four albums would be Cookin', Relaxin', Workin' and Steamin', released in July 1957, March 1958, January 1960 and the summer of 1961, respectively]
JW: And what was that value?
GA: That the Prestige releases, with the exact same group, would be riding Columbia’s marketing coattails. As I spent money to promote Miles’ Columbia records, Bob would be able to release his Prestige albums simultaneously. He would wind up with greater sales than if Miles was still with Prestige all that time. In other words, he’d be getting a free promotional ride for his releases.
JW: Quite a brilliant move on your part.
GA: Look, I could have bought out Weinstock, but that’s not what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to hurt Weinstock, who was a pretty decent guy. This approach would help both of us and Miles.
JW: What did Davis think?
GA: He got it. But the plan was predicated on Miles continuing to hold onto the same group of musicians.
JW: Which meant you had another challenge.
GA: What’s that?
JW: Making sure Davis performed frequently and regularly at clubs with the same group.
GA: Yes, that’s right. And he had a terrible reputation for not showing up and for leaving owners hung up with a financial loss.
Red Garland, ultimately, wouldn't continue with Davis at Columbia after March 1958. By turning up late for gigs and recordings, he and drummer Philly Joe Jones were replaced. Wynton Kelly subbed for Garland in the new Miles Davis Sextet, and Garland remained at Prestige. Groovy by the Red Garland Trio is an exceptional recording. The trio was tight, bluesy and could swing inside and out, on both uptempo songs and moody ballads. Garland was his own artist but flavored stylistically by Ahmad Jamal. On several tracks, Garland even referenced Jamal's hooks and runs. Weinstock (above) liked programming Garland's albums so that ballads and uptempo songs switched off to create a mood.
The tracks:
- C-Jam Blues (uptempo blues)
- Gone Again (ballad)
- Will You Still Be Mine? (uptempo)
- Willow Weep for Me (ballad)
- What Can I Say After I Say I'm Sorry? (mid-tempo)
- Hey Now (uptempo blues)
Red Garland died in 1984 of a heart attack at age 60.
JazzWax tracks: Groovy was re-issued last week vinyl by Concord's Craft Recordings here.
The new edition has been released as part of the Original Jazz Classics Series and is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI with all-analog mastering from the original tapes by Matthew Lutthans at Cohearent Audio and presented in a Tip-On Jacket.
You'll find the 2008 release of the album on CD and as a digital download here.
It's also appears on most major streaming platforms.
JazzWax clips: You'll find the album here...
