There is something about going back to the earliest music you first listened to; you wonder “after all these years, is he/she still going to sound as good as I thought when I was first exposed with virgin ears?” For me, Red Garland was the first jazz pianist I was exposed to. He was the “cocktail” pianist for the first “classic” Miles Davis Quintet along with John Coltrane and Philly Joe Jones. I haven’t heard his glassy chords in decades. This 2 cd set has the pianist caught at San Francisco’s Keystone Korner with old buddy Jones and bassist Leroy Vinnegar. Just another night of acoustic jazz at a time when everyone was plugging in their instruments and making fusion.
How does he sound? AHHHH! My youth is justified! His timeless touch creates these block chords that are like musical fingerprints; it can only be him on this collection of standards and obscurities. He returns to his famed spotlight from Milestones with a toe tapping “Billy Boy” and pulls the obscure “If I’m Lucky” out of left field and makes it a pure delight. His bona fides are felt on the gloriously bluesy “Bags’ Groove” and his crystalline chords on “Autumn Leaves” drift by your window in red and gold. Jones and Vinnegar get some solo space during a fun “On A Clear Day” whle Garland sounds like a clarion call during “On Green Dolphin Street.” Simply put, there is no one out there today, sans Ahmad Jamal, who can make classy jazz like this. Essential for the ears, toes and soul.
Elemental Music