Pianist Erroll Garner, like guitarist Wes Montgomery, reflected an era and style of playing that will probably never be replicated. Self-taught, never learning to even read music, both he and Montgomery created a personal and inherently swinging style of jazz that was not only joyous and infectious, but was highly popular. Modern musicians please 
take note and consider saving your money from expensive music colleges.
These six reissues find Garner at the height of popularity, after his famous tune “Misty” and top selling 1955 album Concert By The Sea. He’s almost always with his working trio of bassist Eddie Calhoun and drummer Kelly Martin, with these albums ranging from 1959 to 1963, 
with one successful ringer.
1959’s Dreamstreet features a lovely title track with Martin sashaying on the brushes and Garner playfully splashing on “Just One Of Those Things” and bluesy on “Come Rain Or Come Shine.” Next year’s Closeup In Swing includes his hard driving original “Octave 103”as well as a full fisted “St. Louis Blues” while his fingers dance with optimism on the opening to “You Do Something To Me.”
Next come a pair of concerts, the first being a March 1962 gig at Purdue University with Garner and company opening up with, you guessed it, “(Back Home Again In) Indiana” and it’s a cooker! Martin and Calhoun sizzle on “La Petite Mambo” and rock hard on “Mambo Erroll.” A few months later in August he’s at the World’s Fair Playhouse in Seattle, giving a luscious “Misty” an Asian harmonic of “Other Voices” and grunts out “The Way You Look Tonight.”
A couple of albums are movie oriented. The 1964 A Night At The Movies has Garner and company giving interpretations of soundtracks as the pianist goes Monkish on “Schoner Gigolo (Just A Gigolo)” and sparkles on “Stella By Starlight”. The most intriguing album is the 1963 A New Kind of Love as Garner is with a full orchestra (and trio) for eleven tunes that he composed for the film score. Piano and strings swoon on “You Brought A New Kind Of Love To Me” and sway on “Fasion Interlude.” The team gets into an R&B groove for “The Tease” and gives a percussion discussion on the hip “Paris Mist”.
All of these albums are simply wonderful, full of happiness and mixing accessibility with technical prowess. Where did jazz make its wrong turn?