Concert by the Sea

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Concert by the Sea
Live album by Erroll Garner

Publication
(s)

1956

Label (s) Columbia Records

Format (s)

LP / CD

Genre (s)

jazz

Title (number)

11

running time

41:19

occupation

production

Martha Glazer ,
George Avakian

Studio (s)

Carmel-by-the-Sea

chronology
Solo
1955 		Concert by the Sea The Most Happy Piano
1956
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Concert by the Sea is a jazz album by Erroll Garner . It was recorded on September 19, 1955 in Carmel-by-the-Sea , California and was released by Columbia Records in 1956 . It is considered to be one of the first LPs in jazz history to sell more than a million copies and which in particular succeeded in reaching an audience that otherwise rarely heard jazz.

Prehistory of the concert

The pianist Erroll Ganer, whose popularity in the United States in the mid-1950s was largely based on his composition Misty , was asked in September 1955 by the Entertainment Division of the US Army whether he would give a concert for veterans of the Korean War . The unit was stationed in Fort Ord near Carmel, a small town on the Pacific coast near San Francisco. The concert was scheduled for September 19, 1955 in the Sunset Auditorium, a former church building. When it turned out that many of the soldiers could not attend the concert, the organizers asked Martha Glazer, who was Erroll Garner's producer, whether the concert could not be recorded in order to play it later for the soldiers lying in the army hospital. Glazer agreed, but insisted that the tapes be the exclusive property of Garner's management after the concert. A jazz fan named Will Thornbury eventually recorded the concert; Martha Glaser told him:

" I'll give you copies of every record Erroll ever made, but I can't let you keep that tape. "

Music of the album

Erroll Garner's trio consisted of Eddie Calhoun on bass and Denzil Best on drums. The Concert by the Sea begins with a von Garner's characteristic introduction with the left hand, wrote Will Friedwald - "even his bassist and drummer, in this case Eddie Calhoun and Denzil Best have little idea of ​​what he is up to". This intro is dark, heavy and serious at times - it climbs to the point where Garner starts with I'll Remember April . Garner plays the song, composed as a romantic love song, so swingingly that Friedwald is reminded of the surfers and the sea breeze on a later album cover. Garner slows the pace in How Could You Do a Thing Like That to Me (the title is also known as Duke Ellington's Sultry Serenade ). "The pianist shows that he is just as skilled at creating spaces while playing as he is playing notes," said Friedwald. The main part of the album emphasizes his feeling for the processing of classical jazz standards such as Where or When ; in Red Top he works on a 12-bar blues and his composition Mambo Carmel shows his enthusiasm for Latin American polyrhythms . At the end of the concert, a short conversation develops with the Emcee , the radio host Jimmy Lyons. After the brief Erroll's Theme , Lyons introduced the musicians and said that Garner had not yet spoken to the audience that evening. In doing so, he elicited the comment from the pianist that his music spoke for itself and he said to his voice: It's worse than Louis Armstrong ’s ...

Publication and response of the recordings

George Avakian producer.
Photo: William P. Gottlieb .

A publication of Concert by the Sea was not initially planned. However, when Garner and his agent intercepted the tapes they were taped, they were so excited that they prepared to release the tapes. Erroll Garner and his trio had played around 15 tracks during the concert, eleven of which were selected, pieces like I Cover the Waterfront, Bernie's Tune, Laura and The Nearness of You were discarded. Furthermore it became clear that although it was an excellent concert by Garner, the sound quality and balance were poor, especially to the disadvantage of the rhythm section. It was decided to send the tape recorded with a simple tape recorder with only one microphone to George Avakian , the producer at Columbia.

Garner had ended his contract with Columbia three years earlier; However, when Avakian heard the tapes, he was immediately enthusiastic and later said in an interview:

" I totally flipped over it! I knew that we had to put it out right away ”.

Two weeks later, Avakian had improved the sound quality enough to allow the tapes to be released as an album. This quickly became a big seller; it was also his greatest success in Garner's thirty-year career. the Billboard listed the album at number 2 on the American charts in March 1958; in front of him was Shelly Mann's My Fair Lady album. As early as mid-1963, sales reached the 500,000 mark. The album sold over a million copies, gave Garner growing popularity in the United States and allowed him to appear in numerous nightclubs; In November 1957, shortly before his European tour, Erroll Garner was a guest on Patti Page's television show The Big Record .

Rolling Stone magazine selected the album in 2013 in its list The 100 best jazz albums at number 56. The edition of the complete concert received the Prix ​​de la Meilleure Réédition ou du Meilleur Inédit of the Académie du Jazz .

Editorial notes

The LP Concert by the Sea was first released by Columbia (CL 883) in 1956, in Europe there were editions by Philips (B 07170 L) and Melodiya (M 60-39911-12) under the same title but with a different cover design . Columbia later released the recording in various couplings as a double album, for example in the Netherlands in 1972 as This is Erroll Garner 2 (CBS Holland S 68 219) or in 1985 in Great Britain as Misty & Concert By the Sea (CBS 22185).

Columbia put a 1987 first edition of Concert by the Sea as a CD before (CK 40589). The recordings were released by Jazz Beat in 2007 with previously unpublished material . There was also a re-release in the form of a 180 gram LP. As part of the Essential Jazz Classics series, Discovery Records released the original album in CD form, coupled with the original title (1954) Misty and concert recordings from the Seattle World Exhibition in 1962 (with Eddie Calhoun (bass) & Kelly Martin (drums)). In 2015, Sony Legacy and Octave Music Publishing Corporation released the 3-CD box The Complete Concert By the Sea , which contains the complete concert recording (including eleven previously unreleased titles) and interviews with Erroll Garner, Denzil DaCosta Best and Eddie Calhoun, which immediately follow originated from the concert. The edition was produced by Geri Allen and Steve Rosenthal, as well as liner notes by Geri Allen, Robin DG Kelley and Dan Morgenstern .

The titles

  • Erroll Garner: Concert by the Sea (Columbia CL 883, CK 40589)
  1. I'll Remember April ( Gene De Paul , Patricia Johnston, Don Raye ) - 4:14
  2. Teach Me Tonight ( Sammy Cahn , de Paul) - 3:37
  3. Mambo Carmel-by-the-sea ( Erroll Garner ) - 3:43
  4. Autumn Leaves ( Joseph Kosma , Jacques Prévert , Johnny Mercer ) - 6:27
  5. It's All Right with Me ( Cole Porter ) - 3:21
  6. Red Top ( Lionel Hampton , Ben Kynard ) - 3:11
  7. April in Paris ( Vernon Duke , Yip Harburg ) - 4:47
  8. They Can't Take That Away from Me ( George Gershwin , Ira Gershwin ) - 4:08
  9. How Could You Do a Thing Like That to Me ( Tyree Glenn , Allan Roberts) - 3:59
  10. Where or When ( Richard Rodgers , Lorenz Hart ) - 3:06
  11. Erroll's Theme (Garner) - 0:46

Reception of the album

Will Friedwald justifies the immense success as follows:

“From the first notes on, Garner plays inspired - just burning. He always plays with a combination of wit, imagination, amazing technical ability and sheer joy, which was far from the game of any of his contemporaries, but on this special night he reached a level well above his usual Olympic standard. "
Erroll Garner around 1947, photograph by William P. Gottlieb .

Bob Rusch gave the album in Allmusic the highest rating of five stars and wrote

“ Concert by the Sea was arguably the best record the pianist Erroll Garner has ever made, and he made many - [including] a few extraordinary - good recordings. But this live recording [...] presented a typical Garner program; With his unique enthusiasm he delivered a mixture of originals, showbiz and pop standards. The rhythm and brilliant use of tension and release were captured perfectly. And that, although for many jazz listeners Garner's well-considered structures [otherwise] seemed too orchestrated, there was an even spontaneity in the driving force of this orchestration, which swung almost everything. "

Richard Cook and Brian Morton were more cautious about the recordings in The Penguin Guide to Jazz ; Concert by the Sea is neither essential nor characteristic, but parts of the concert like the introduction to I'll Remember April and Red Top showed the pianist from his lively side; but his well-designed arrangement of How Could You Do a Thing Like That to Me is almost even more interesting .

Brian Priestley highlighted the Concert by the Sea album in the Garner discography in the Rough Guide: Jazz and particularly mentioned its interpretation of the Autumn Leaves and Red Top standards

C. Michael Bailey wrote in All About Jazz (which included Concert By The Sea in the list of the 10 best live albums of 1953-1965):

“ [...] And what is this 'Garner style'? Without formal training, Erroll Garner was not hampered by theory or standard performance practice, which made his music very unusual. Garner performed with a badass orchestral style that was sort of anti- Bud Powell . His left hand was an instrument of rhythm as well as harmony. Garner's amazingly free introductions, such as in I'll Remember April , were hammered with his left hand. Garner's lack of formal training was his greatest asset. It enabled him to explore and arrange harmoniously in a postmodern fashion before postmodernism existed. For example Gershwins They Can't Take that Away from Me . Here Garner deconstructs the title [known by] Ellington on a large scale, initially wandering around in the lower registers before breaking into the higher registers. With his ornate introduction and idiosyncratic approach to the melody, Garner reshapes April in Paris . I could imagine that Franz Liszt would have played standards that way. Concert by the Sea is a cracked monument of perfection. This recording was a dichotomy , a paradox , where the ignorant not only wins, but creates art of lasting quality. That's the art. "

Speaking to AB Spellman for National Public Radio , Murray Horwitz said:

“ Yes, there are some nice ballads, and the most amazing thing about the Concert by the Sea album is that it all happened in one night. It's a recital by a pianist, accompanied by a bassist and a drummer - Eddie Calhoun and Denzel Best - and he brought an extraordinary flow of tempi and grooves into his playing. So there are all those really hard swinging, fast, virtuoso tracks in which he shows his speed. But he is just as virtuoso with his ballads as in Autumn Leaves . "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ John McClellan, Deyan Bratic: Chet Atkins in Three Dimensions, Volume 2 , p. 35
  2. ↑ See Richard Cook : Blue Note Records: The Biography , p. 122
  3. ↑ a b c Information at Keep swinging
  4. ↑ a b c d e Will Friedwald : Garner's Serendipitous Hit (2009)
  5. ^ Stanley Dance : Liner Notes
  6. ↑ cf. Billboard March 3, 1958
  7. ^ Billboard Aug. 3, 1963
  8. ^ The Houghton Mifflin Dictionary of Biography by Houghton Mifflin Company, p. 585
  9. ↑ Rolling Stone: The 100 Best Jazz Albums . Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  10. ↑ Information at Discogs
  11. ↑ “Misty” was recorded in Chicago on July 27, 1954 with Wyatt Ruther (bass) & Eugene Heard (drums).
  12. ↑ Sony Legacy to Release Erroll Garner's “Concert By the Sea” as 3-CD Box (2015) in JazzTimes
  13. ↑ Original: From the first notes onward, Garner plays like a man inspired - on fire, even. He always played with a combination of wit, imagination, amazing technical skill and sheer joy far beyond nearly all of his fellow pianists, but on this particular night he reached a level exceeding his usual Olympian standard.
  14. ↑ In the original: “ Concert by the Sea was arguably the finest record pianist Erroll Garner ever made, and he made many - a few outstanding - good recordings. But this live recording [...] presented a typical Garner program; it was a mixture of originals, show biz, and pop standards delivered with his unique delivery and enthusiasm. The rhythms and brilliant use of tension and release were perfectly captured. And while for many jazz listeners, Garner's deliberate structures were too orchestrated, there was an equal spontaneity in the propulsion of these orchestrations that swung as well as anything. "
  15. ↑ Review of Bob Rusch's album at Allmusic (English). Retrieved July 25, 2012.
  16. ↑ Richard Cook & Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD Penguin, London 2003, (6th edition). ISBN 0-14-051521-6
  17. ^ Ian Carr , Digby Fairweather , Brian Priestley: Rough Guide Jazz. The ultimate guide to jazz music. 1700 artists and bands from the beginning until today. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 1999, ISBN 3-476-01584-X , p. 288.
  18. ↑ List of the Best Live Jazz Recordings (1953-65) at All About Jazz
  19. ↑ In the original: " [...] And what is that" Garnerian manner? " Having had no formal training, Erroll Garner was not encumbered by theory or common performance practice, thereby making his music quite uncommon. Garner performed with a two-fisted orchestral style that was about as anti- Bud Powell as one could get. His left hand was as much a rhythmic instrument, as it was a harmonic one. Garner's astonishing free introductions, such as that for "I'll Remember April" were forged with his left hand. Garner's lack of formal education was his greatest asset. It enabled him to explore harmony and arrangement in a postmodern manner before there was postmodernism. Take Gershwin's "They Can't Take That Away from Me." Here, Garner deconstructs the Ellington tune in grand style, roaming around the mostly in the low keys before breaking about in the upper register. Garner transforms "April in Paris," with his ornate introduction and idiosyncratic approach to the melody. I would imagine Franz Liszt playing standards this way. Concert By The Sea is a flawed monument of perfection. This recording was a dichotomy, a paradox, where the unlearned not only prevail, but create art of a lasting quality. This is the art. "
  20. ^ Review of C. Michael Bailey's album at All About Jazz
  21. ↑ In the original: “ Yeah, there are some beautiful ballads and one of the stunning things about this record, Concert by the Sea, is that it all took place in one night. It's one recital by one pianist, backed up by a bassist and a drummer - Eddi — Calhoun and Denzel Best - and - puts an extraordinary array of tempos and grooves into his playing. So there are all those really hard-swinging, fast, virtuosic pieces where he shows off his velocity. But he's also virtuosic with ballads, like Autumn Leaves . "
  22. ^ AB Spellman and Murray Horwitz talked about the album on National Public Radio