Red Garland
Red Garland | |
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![]() Garland at Keystone Korner jazz club, San Francisco, California, May 1978 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | William McKinley Garland, Jr. |
Born | Dallas, Texas, U.S. | May 13, 1923
Died | April 23, 1984 Dallas, Texas, U.S. | (aged 60)
Genres | Jazz, straight-ahead jazz, bebop, hard bop |
Occupation(s) | Musician |
Instruments | Piano |
Years active | 1940s–1984 |
Labels | Prestige |
Associated acts | Miles Davis |
William McKinley "Red" Garland, Jr. (May 13, 1923 – April 23, 1984)[1] was an American modern jazz pianist. Known for his work as a bandleader and during the 1950s with Miles Davis, Garland helped popularize the block chord style of piano playing.[2][3]
Early life[]
William "Red" Garland was born in 1923 in Dallas, Texas. He began his musical studies on the clarinet and alto saxophone but, in 1941, switched to the piano. Less than five years later, Garland joined the trumpet player Hot Lips Page, well-known in the southwest, playing with him until a tour ended in New York in March 1946. With Garland having decided to stay in New York to find work, Art Blakey came across Garland playing at a small club, only to return the next night with his boss, Billy Eckstine.[4]
Garland also had a short-lived career as a welterweight boxer in the 1940s. He fought more than 35 fights, one being an exhibition bout with Sugar Ray Robinson.[5]
Later life and career[]
1955–1958 ... The first great Miles Davis Quintet[]
Garland became famous in 1954 when he joined the Miles Davis Quintet, featuring John Coltrane, Philly Joe Jones, and Paul Chambers. Davis was a fan of boxing and was impressed that Garland had boxed earlier in his life. Together, the group recorded their famous Prestige albums, Miles: The New Miles Davis Quintet (1954), Workin, Steamin', Cookin', and Relaxin'. Garland's style is prominent in these seminal recordings—evident in his distinctive chord voicings, his sophisticated accompaniment, and his musical references to Ahmad Jamal's style. Some observers dismissed Garland as a "cocktail" pianist,[6] but Miles was pleased with his style, having urged Garland to absorb some of Jamal's lightness of touch and harmonics within his own approach.[7]
Garland played on the first of Davis's many Columbia recordings, 'Round About Midnight (1957). Though he would continue playing with Miles, their relationship was beginning to deteriorate. By 1958, Garland and Jones had started to become more erratic in turning up for recordings and shows. He was eventually fired by Miles, but later returned to play on another jazz classic, Milestones. Davis was displeased when Garland quoted Davis's much earlier, and by then famous, solo from "Now's The Time" in block chords during the slower take of "Straight, No Chaser". Garland walked out of one of the sessions for Milestones, so that on the track "Sid's Ahead", Davis comped behind the saxophone solos.
1958–1984 ... After leaving the Miles Davis Quintet[]
In 1958, Garland formed his own trio. Among the musicians the trio recorded with are Pepper Adams, Nat Adderley, Ray Barretto, Kenny Burrell, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Jimmy Heath, Harold Land, Philly Joe Jones, Blue Mitchell, Ira Sullivan, and Leroy Vinnegar. The trio also recorded as a quintet with John Coltrane and Donald Byrd.[8] Altogether, Garland led 19 recording sessions while at Prestige Records and 25 sessions for Fantasy Records. He stopped playing professionally for a number of years in the 1960s when the popularity of rock music coincided with a substantial drop in the popularity of jazz.
Garland eventually returned to his native Texas in the 1970s to care for his aged mother. He led a recording in 1977, named Crossings, which reunited him with Philly Joe Jones, and he teamed up with bassist Ron Carter. His later work tended to sound more modern and less polished than his better known recordings. He continued recording until his death from a heart attack on April 23, 1984 at the age of 60.[9]
Playing style[]
Garland's trademark block chord technique, a commonly borrowed maneuver in jazz piano today, was unique and differed from the methods of earlier block chord pioneers such as George Shearing and Milt Buckner. Garland's block chords were constructed of three notes in the right hand and four in the left hand, with the right hand one octave above the left. Garland's left hand played four-note chords that simultaneously beat out the same exact rhythm as the right-hand melody played. But unlike George Shearing's block chord method, Garland's left-hand chords did not change positions or inversions until the next chord change occurred. It is also worth noting that Garland's four-note left-hand chord voicings frequently left out the roots of the chords, a chord style later associated with pianist Bill Evans.
Partial discography[]
As leader[]
Year recorded | Title | Label | Personnel |
---|---|---|---|
1956 | A Garland of Red | Prestige | Trio, with Paul Chambers (bass), Art Taylor (drums) |
1956–57 | Red Garland's Piano | Prestige | Trio, with Paul Chambers (bass), Art Taylor (drums) |
1956–57 | The P.C. Blues | Prestige | Most tracks trio with Paul Chambers (bass), Art Taylor (drums); one track trio with Chambers (bass), Philly Joe Jones (drums); released 1970 |
1956–57 | Groovy | Prestige | Trio with Paul Chambers (bass), Art Taylor (drums) |
1957 | Red Garland Revisited! | Prestige | Most tracks trio, with Paul Chambers (bass), Art Taylor (drums); some tracks quartet, with Kenny Burrell (guitar) added; released 1969 |
1957 | All Mornin' Long | Prestige | Quintet, with John Coltrane (tenor sax), Donald Byrd (trumpet), George Joyner (bass), Art Taylor (drums) |
1957 | Soul Junction | Prestige | Quintet, with John Coltrane (tenor sax), Donald Byrd (trumpet), George Joyner (bass), Art Taylor (drums) |
1957 | High Pressure | Prestige | Quintet, with John Coltrane (tenor sax), Donald Byrd (trumpet), George Joyner (bass), Art Taylor (drums) |
1957–58 | Dig It! | Prestige | One track trio, with Paul Chambers (bass), Art Taylor (drums); two tracks quintet, with John Coltrane (tenor sax), Donald Byrd (trumpet), George Joyner (bass), Taylor (drums); one track quartet, without Byrd |
1958 | It's a Blue World | Prestige | Trio, with Paul Chambers (bass), Art Taylor (drums); released 1970 |
1958 | Manteca | Prestige | Quartet, with Paul Chambers (bass), Art Taylor (drums), Ray Barretto (congas) |
1958 | Can't See for Lookin' | Prestige | Trio, with Paul Chambers (bass), Art Taylor (drums); released 1963 |
1958 | Rojo | Prestige | Quartet, with George Joyner (bass), Charlie Persip (drums), Ray Barretto (congas) |
1958 | The Red Garland Trio | Moodsville | Trio, with Paul Chambers (bass), Art Taylor (drums) |
1958 | All Kinds of Weather | Prestige | Trio, with Paul Chambers (bass), Art Taylor (drums) |
1959 | Red in Blues-ville | Prestige | Trio, with Sam Jones (bass), Art Taylor (drums) |
1959 | Coleman Hawkins with the Red Garland Trio | Swingville | Quartet, with Coleman Hawkins (tenor sax), Doug Watkins (bass), Charles "Specs" Wright (drums) |
1959 | Satin Doll | Prestige | Most tracks trio with Doug Watkins (bass), Charles "Specs" Wright (drums); some tracks trio with Jimmy Rowser (bass), Taylor (drums); released 1971 |
1959 | Red Garland at the Prelude | Prestige | Trio, with Jimmy Rowser (bass), Charles "Specs" Wright (drums); in concert; released 1971 |
1959 | Lil' Darlin' | Status/Prestige | Trio, with Jimmy Rowser (bass), Charles "Specs" Wright (drums); in concert; released 1965 |
1959 | Red Garland Live! | New Jazz/Prestige | Trio, with Jimmy Rowser (bass), Charles "Specs" Wright (drums); in concert; released 1965 |
1959 | The Red Garland Trio + Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis | Moodsville | Most tracks trio, with Sam Jones (bass), Art Taylor (drums); some tracks quartet, with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis (tenor sax) added |
1960 | Red Alone | Moodsville | Solo piano |
1960 | Alone with the Blues | Moodsville | Solo piano |
1960 | Halleloo-Y'-All | Prestige | Trio, with Sam Jones (bass), Art Taylor (drums); Garland plays organ on one track |
1960–61 | Soul Burnin' | Prestige | Three tracks trio, with Sam Jones (bass), Art Taylor (drums); two tracks quintet, with Oliver Nelson (tenor sax, alto sax), Richard Williams (trumpet), Peck Morrison (bass), Charlie Persip (drums) |
1961 | Bright and Breezy | Jazzland | Trio, with Sam Jones (bass), Charlie Persip (drums) |
1961 | The Nearness of You | Jazzland | One track solo piano; most tracks trio, with Larry Ridley (bass), Frank Gant (drums) |
1962 | Solar | Jazzland | Most tracks trio, with Sam Jones (bass), Frank Gant (drums); some tracks quartet, with Les Spann (guitar, flute) added |
1962 | Red's Good Groove | Jazzland | Quintet, with Blue Mitchell (trumpet), Pepper Adams (baritone sax), Sam Jones (bass), Philly Joe Jones (drums) |
1962 | When There Are Grey Skies | Prestige | Trio, with Wendell Marshall (bass), Charlie Persip (drums) |
1971 | The Quota | MPS | Quartet, with Jimmy Heath (tenor sax, soprano sax), Peck Morrison (bass), Lenny McBrowne (drums) |
1971 | Auf Wiedersehen | MPS | Trio, with Sam Jones (bass), Roy Brooks (drums) |
1974 | Alfa Jazz | Trio, with James Leary (bass), Eddie Marshall (drums); in concert | |
1974 | Alfa Jazz | Trio, with James Leary (bass), Eddie Marshall (drums); in concert | |
1977 | Keystones! | Xanadu | Trio, with Leroy Vinnegar (bass), Philly Joe Jones (drums); in concert |
1977 | Keystone | Trio, with Leroy Vinnegar (bass), Philly Joe Jones (drums); in concert | |
1977 | Red Alert | Galaxy | Some tracks trio, with Ron Carter (bass), Frank Butler (drums); one track quartet, with Nat Adderley (cornet) added; two tracks sextet, with Harold Land and Ira Sullivan (tenor sax) added; one track quartet, with Sullivan, Carter, Butler |
1977 | Crossings | Galaxy | Trio, with Ron Carter (bass), Philly Joe Jones (drums) |
1978 | Feelin' Red | Muse | Trio, with Sam Jones (bass), Al Foster (drums) |
1978 | I Left My Heart... | Muse | Some tracks trio, with Chris Amberger (bass), Eddie Moore (drums); some tracks quartet, with Leo Wright (alto sax) added; in concert; released 1985 |
1978 | Equinox | Galaxy | Trio, with Richard Davis (bass), Roy Haynes (drums) |
1979 | Stepping Out | Galaxy | Some tracks trio, with Ron Carter (bass), Ben Riley (drums); some tracks quartet, with Kenny Burrell (guitar) added |
1979 | So Long Blues | Galaxy | Some tracks trio, with Ron Carter (bass), Ben Riley (drums); two tracks quartet, with Kenny Burrell (guitar) added; some tracks quintet, with Julian Priester (trombone), George Coleman (tenor sax) added; released 1984 |
1979 | Strike Up the Band | Galaxy | One track quartet with Julian Priester (trombone), Ron Carter (bass), Ben Riley (drums); one track quartet with George Coleman (tenor sax), Carter (bass), Riley (drums); three tracks quintet, with all listed |
1982 | Misty Red | Sony Music Entertainment | Trio, with Jamil Nasser (bass), Frank Gant (drums) |
Compilations[]
- Rediscovered Masters (Prestige, 1958–61 [1977])
- At the Prelude, Vol. 1 (Prestige, 1959 [1994]) (compilation of Red Garland at the Prelude + Red Garland Live!)
- Blues in the Night (Prestige, 1960 [1997]) (compilation of Halleloo-Y'-All + Soul Burnin' )
- Red's Blues (Prestige, 1956–62 [1998])
- Stretching Out (Prestige, 1959 [2002]) (compilation of Satin Doll + Lil' Darlin' )
- The Best of the Red Garland Quintets (Prestige, 2004)
- The Best of the Red Garland Trios (Prestige, 2004)
As sideman[]
With Arnett Cobb
- Sizzlin' (Prestige, 1960)
- Ballads by Cobb (Moodsville, 1960)
With John Coltrane
- Tenor Conclave (Prestige, 1957) with Al Cohn, Hank Mobley, Zoot Sims
- John Coltrane with the Red Garland Trio (Prestige, 1957; reissued as Traneing In)
- Soultrane (Prestige, 1958)
- Lush Life (Prestige, 1961)
- Settin' The Pace (Prestige, 1961)
- The Believer (Prestige, 1964)
- The Last Trane (Prestige, 1965)
With Miles Davis
- The Musings of Miles (Prestige, 1955)
- Miles: The New Miles Davis Quintet (Prestige, 1955)
- Cookin' with The Miles Davis Quintet (Prestige, 1956)
- Relaxin' with The Miles Davis Quintet (Prestige, 1956)
- Workin' with The Miles Davis Quintet (Prestige, 1956)
- Steamin' with The Miles Davis Quintet (Prestige, 1956)
- 'Round About Midnight (Columbia, 1957)
- Milestones (Columbia, 1958)
With Curtis Fuller
- Curtis Fuller with Red Garland (Prestige, 1957)
With Jackie McLean
- McLean's Scene (Prestige, 1956)
With Charlie Parker
- Charlie Parker at Storyville (Blue Note, 1953)
With Art Pepper
- Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section (Contemporary, 1957)
With Sonny Rollins
- Tenor Madness (Prestige, 1956)
With Phil Woods
- Sugan (Status/Prestige, 1957 [1965])
References[]
- ^ Dobbins, Bill; Kernfeld, Barry (2002). "Garland, Red". In Barry Kernfeld (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, vol. 2 (2nd ed.). New York: Grove's Dictionaries Inc. p. 14. ISBN 1561592846.
- ^ Yanow, Scott. "Red Garland Biography". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ^ Simpson, Joel. "Red Garland Profile". All About Jazz. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ^ Seeing Red. Texas Monthly. 1977-03-01.
- ^ Szwed, John (2004-01-09). So What: The Life of Miles Davis. Simon and Schuster. p. 124. ISBN 9780684859835.
red garland boxer welterweight.
- ^ Giddins, Garry (April 3, 1978). "Red Garland's Texas Cocktail". The Village Voice. p. 49.
- ^ Mathieson, Kenny (2012). Giant Steps: Bebop And The Creators Of Modern Jazz, 1945-65. Canongate Books. p. 209. ISBN 978-0-85786-617-2.
- ^ "Discogs.com". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
- ^ Pareles, John (26 April 1984). "Red Garland, a Pianist in Miles Davis Quintet". The New York Times.
External links[]
- 1923 births
- 1984 deaths
- American jazz pianists
- American male pianists
- Musicians from Dallas
- Hard bop pianists
- Miles Davis Quintet members
- Xanadu Records artists
- Muse Records artists
- Prestige Records artists
- Timeless Records artists
- Galaxy Records artists
- 20th-century American pianists
- American male jazz musicians
- African-American pianists
- 20th-century American male musicians