Do You Need Bebop to Swing? 

Fun Fact: Erroll Garner, Ahmad Jamal and Billy Strayhorn all went to Westinghouse High School in Pittsburgh - that must have beed some music program

Fun fact: Errol Garner taught himself to play at age 3 and was a professional at age 7 (1928) ! So he had been playing a while before be-bop came along.

The actual GOAT. No one swings harder, no one fucks with tempo better. Never fumbles the ball.

Out of all the great jazz pianists out there, Erroll Garner's spirit of playing resonates with me the most. He is incredible, infinite flexibility with how he plays and it's always 100% him. Funny you picked recordings with Eddie Calhoun, I don't think they paired that well together. I think the best bassist that paired with Erroll was Ernest McCarty and the quartet of Erroll Garner, Ernest McCarty on Bass, Jimmie Smith on Drums and Jose "Buyú" Mangual on percussion was his best band. Obviously no disrespect to anyone else he played with, but that line-up works so well together IMO. There is a video of a recording of that line-up for French TV called "Erroll Garner Live in Paris, Maison de la Radio 1973" which used to be on youtube but is behind a paywall now on medici tv. That recording is my total fave of his, I think it's amazing. There is a video of them playing Misty from that recording on youtube titled "1972 Paris, coloured, Erroll Garner, Ernest McCarty, Jimmie Smith: Misty" You can also find that line up on a youtube video called "ERROL GARNER RAI TV ITALY 1972 Encode 31" but the quality is quite ropey. Also I highly recommend the documentary about Erroll titled "ERROLL GARNER - SO YOU WANNA LEARN TO PLAY THE PIANO HUN?" which is on youtube

Erroll Garner and Chopin were my two main inspirations for learning piano as an adult. I love that Erroll hums/sings everything he is playing, as he is playing it. So masterful

So great to hear Erroll Garner on this podcast, it's also incredible he didn't read music but learned only by ear. It shines through his musicality !

...effortless joy...unrestrained...life-force creativity flowing through him into form...not "in his head" at all...not looking at his hands...just a "pleasing and pleased with" outpouring...a blessing to behold...

Thanks for this, Adam. I've been a fan of Garner since my high school bandmates and I saw him live at San Francisco's Blackhawk back in '61 or '62. Back then, teens of at least 16 years old could sit in a special chicken wire sectioned-off part of the club. Among other things, I remember that we were astounded by the timing of his left hand, which seemed to be ever so slightly behind the beat maintained by his right hand. A true genius!

I listen to all those swing players who didn't get the bebop bug and they just went on and iterated on their own melodic conceptions to an insane degree. I think it's proof that bebop language isn't strictly a necessity.

I first became aware of Erroll about 40 years ago when I was just 16. At that time I had no idea musically what he was doing but it was addictive , I then played every Jazz standard in this style on my Rhodes! A few years later I was fortunate enough to share a stage with Dudley Moore on the QE2 cruise ship. He was on holiday but would get up and jam with my band every night on the 5 day crossing from Southampton to N.Y . Dudley could do the Erroll "Thing" perfectly . I was also very good friends with the late Harry Stoneham another great musician that also was able to imitate Erroll to perfection. Harry and Dudley were good friends both being from Romford in the uk and also sharing the same Bass player and drummer for years ( Chris and Pete). As spoken about in this clip Erroll sits very high at the piano as you can see he is sitting on a book. This is actually a New York Phone book he would take everywhere with him. When Erroll visited the uk he brought the phone book with him. When he left he forgot to take it with him. This was picked up and kept as a keep sake. I have seen this phone book many times . It still exists today!!

You give a very good description, Erroll was Ahmad's hero, absolutely, I've heard it from his own lips, Erroll being a several years older and both having attended the same high school - I think it was Westinghouse in Pittsburgh - and shared at least one influential high school music teacher. They had a long lasting great friendship and shared some significant side men as well. It was Ahmad's then wife Sharifa who told me this thing about Erroll not being able to read was a bit overstated, he could read some, he just did not need to and thus he never developed that.

🐐 Those octaves never get old. It's something almost magical and time transporting about them. My favorite of my favorites.

Was hoping y'all would cover Erroll someday! Thanks for saving me the trouble of a formal request. "Teach Me Tonight" from the Concert By the Sea album (1955) is a personal favorite of mine--his swinging syncopation over the B sections (particularly the second time around) has all the sassy smoothness and punctuated lyric attack of the best hip hop flows: feet thumping velvet fire, just be sure to hold on to your hat!

He stays in close dialogue/engagement w/ the song as known and loved by the audience of the time. Those My Fair Lady tunes here were very popular in the 1960s, and the way he plays with them is so entertaining, if you are coming with a prior love of those tunes as show tunes/pop tunes. I think that was a key to his popularity (my wife was taken to see him as a young girl). He is a great tease, not just with the improvised intros, but throughout the tune. He keeps the song ever present, not just as a harmonic skeleton, but as conceptual totality. It's that totality that he is playing with, teasing with, singing with.

LOVE IT. HE MADE THOSE OCTAVES SO ENJOYABLE AT A FAST SPEED. WHAT A SHOW. EVERY NOTE SO ACCURATE

It’s his contrast. Rhythmic and dynamic. So great.

Man, I can see you're as big a fan of Erroll Garner as I am. I grew up in a musical family , & swing was the thing of my parents, who came of age in the 30's & 40's. They idolised many of the swing greats, such as Benny Goodman & Artie Shaw. But the favorite in our household was always Erroll Garner (followed by Nat King Cole). I think we about wore the grooves off his Concert By The Sea album, also I believe, from 1964. The gems from that album, particularly Teach Me Tonight & Penthouse Serenade, inspire me to this day & can bring tears to my eyes. As you say, he alone, with his trio, offers the enrichment of any big band swing arrangement you can name...

Only a few years younger than you, Adam, and Erroll Garner has been my favorite pianist since the first time I heard him. No one can find and put the blues in a song like him, and he somehow plays the whole piano at once and swings impossibly good. I've been dying to see some about him on the channel. Would love to see some breakdown of some of his tricks or moves you guys can pick out. Thanks for this one.

The great Errol Garner. 'Misty' was the reason I taught myself to play the piano.

Been listening to Erroll since the 60's. Still playing his Chopin Variations and Moonglow on piano. He was phenomenal.

Love Errol Gardner. I thought that was one of the original gripes about bebop was that it did not swing.

Erroll just dug deep into the swing. And his ballad playing? Man... talk about expression! Im a Trumpet player and EG is my 2nd biggest inspiration behind Pops.

He is my favorite jazz pianist of all times. I've transcribed and covered Just One Of Those Things and On Green Dolphin Street. Jeanine is the next song I'm planning to cover, the small 20s intro at the beginning is gonna be part of a song for my next album, I'm gonna use it like a theme and improvise over it. Garner was the guy, I haven't heard such amazing ideas and melodies in any other jazz pianist, not Even Oscar Peterson or Camilo among others, Musicians I've covered songs before. The one who makes me cry and when I'm transcribing his music I always wonder how was he able to play this without rehearsals, music formation, etc. He was a Miracle

he's actually improvising arrangements rather than solos, not so much musicians do this

Erroll Garner is the third most liked jazz pianist of all time by... ME. After Tatum and Peterson. My personal holy trinity. Greetings.

My favorite! Garner is the hands down best. What a brilliant musician.

I’m late to the game too. He is an absolute genius. The interview with his bassist is well worth watching.

As far as I’m concerned, Bud Powell, Dizzy Gillespie, and Charlie Parker did also not rely on the bebop scale …

Hey Adam, that was a really cool & also … beautiful spotlight on a truly great pianist … I love Errol Garner’s version of “ Laura”, as well as “ Autumn Leaves” … Nostalgia Lives on!!!!

great solo episode. straight to the point!

Always one of my favorites. His orchestral and joyful playing is so uplifting. Cant help but dance

i know what i’m gonna be playing all day today. thanks adam!!

So crazy how I was just thinking about his this channel hadn’t covered erroll garner yet, and not even a week later here it is! Bravo

Great ep!

The great is an understatement Errol Garner was the giant flying miles above the best pianists of the time ...Absolute genius, So charismatic ..ridiculous time and independance .. so much feel never boring ...i mean the only person i can think of on that level was Fats Waller.

NEVER BE ANOTHER PIANO PLAYER EVER LIKE ERROL GARNER SIMPLY A GENIUS!!!!

Erroll was a true genious!

I appreciated your episode and play by play. I am an Errol Garner fanatic and can never get enough of his joyous genius😊

Erroll Garner is an absolute virtuoso. Inspiring!

Reminds me of a stride player at times playing the blues and still at the same time amazing and maybe an ear player. Been a long time since I've listened to him. Thanks again

Errol is my fave. Explicit rhythm, great Color. He was left handed. He plays Happy music. Hal Leonard put out a great transcription of ‘Concert by the Sea’ album.

Thank you for featuring "the one and only" Erroll Garner! Since I encountered his video on RU-vid a year ago, I cannot stop listening to his music. I could see the sheer joy on Adam's face. I probably look the same when I listen to Erroll Garner.

Great video. thanks for this

One of my favorite pianists. Always such a joy to listen to. This is how jazz should be; playful and dynamic.

9:40 love the modulations in this bridge

Thank you,Adam. Simply Joy.🔥🔥🔥 And... you know The Elf was very short. Art Tatum to Oscar Peterson:(paraphrase)---"Watch out for the Short Man." Erroll exudes love,humor and joy. Incredibly sophisticated and due to his melodic and playful approach the audience was never lost. A whole generation of highly-skilled hobby players with excellent reading skills would play through books of his transcriptions for fun.

Loved it!

A huge favorite of mine from this performance is Laura!! His arrangement is crazy! I really enjoy listening to it.

Adam, I was thrilled to see you’ve fallen in love with the playing of the man Diz once called "our most sanctified pianist." From the very first notes of the intro to “How High The Moon” on his LP Gemini, the very first time I heard it through headphones on a turntable in my high school library, I was a goner for EG and have been been ever since. He created a unique style with a strumming left hand punctuated by bass jabs and a typically chord-based right hand-a big band conception, but always melodic, with long, essentially vocal lines and a singer's phrasing. He combined irrepressible rhythmic drive and variation with endless melodic invention, and his zany, unpredictable intros made every number a gift-wrapped surprise. Nobody swung harder or with greater joy-and the hardest he ever swung (as well as an 8-chorus rocket flight that’s the greatest solo I’ve ever heard on any instrument) was on “How High The Moon” from Gemini: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-NvzOKIhny-s.htmlsi=o_j-77cy9wYgHeKz ….. I also recommend "When A Gyosy Makes His Violin Cry" from the same LP, ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-oUFWxVWdmf0.htmlsi=KaSqkSqQu1ureHqZ, which will put you in a trance from the very first delicate notes of the pianissimo melody, and also includes the hardest swinging harpsichord solo you'll ever hear. PS You and Peter do a great job, I’m a lifelong pianist and don’t often find the jazz piano stuff on RU-vid really useful, but I never fail to learn something, or think of something in a new way, from your videos.

Beautiful man. I stumbled upon you by accident, but obviously it was destiny. I've loved Erroll Garner ever since my dad joined the Columbia Record Club & purchased Concert By The Sea, amongst many others, in 1964 or so. Both my parents had been musicians in their younger years (the Swing Era) so of course they passed on a bit of their musical tastes to me. Thus, I inherited a love of the puano giants of the 40's & 50's such as Erroll, Oscar Peterson & Nat King Kole, to mention a few. I love your commentary on Erroll's playing. Yes, he was a one man swinging big band, in a sense. As you point out, he was continually riffing melodically, while inventing melodies & musical throwaway phrases, always with a driving pulse, whatever the tempo, & never more than a moment away from the melody. And as we can see, he was always--Always--enjoying himself to the fullest, looking right at the audience to encourage full involvement. I remember him from numerous appearances on mainstream American television throughout the 60's & into the 70's,& it was always 100 % pure enjoyment & swing.

I'd bet that Erroll Garner's unique style elements all came out of his being self-taught from an early age, and were only possible for that reason. Playful exploration can be such a powerful medium for inventiveness. I believe it's important to leave children with lots of room to engage in such creative play, even while they're being directed into "proper" paths by their mentors. Imagine if Erroll the young lad had been strictly constrained within the defining limits of "proper" piano technique, what the world might have missed. It's because he wasn't subjected to such constraints as an inquisative child that he was able to show us all something new. So cool, and such great insights, Mr Maness. Thank you for doing this!

Cool Blues/Hot Blues with Bird. It's the Blues!

He was one of a kind...

Wish that I was on the jazz cruise this year, Taylor Eigsti is performing!!

At 3:19, Errol Garner suddenly changes tempo during the intro. You can see bassist Eddie Calhoun shaking his head and gesturing as if to say, “What are you doing, bruh???” 😂😂❤️🙌🏿🦁☀️

Love Garner!

what joy!

Pure Joy

Adam, many of his albums got the amazing remaster treatment from Octave Remasters. Some of my favorites are GERSWHIN & KERN, DREAMSTREET, and MAGICIAN. Ready Take One is also quite funky, but not a remaster. Garner sounded great with conga accompaniment. Hey Adam, I told those other RU-vidrs about the Hip Hop collab. Make it happen, we'd all be surprised by the wealth from that speak pipe ;)

Unrelated to this video, but want to say that I would love it if you guys did a segment to talk about Bach, and in a way pertinent to jazz (obviously). Needless to say, love your content and Erroll Garner! Thanks!

great video.... a couple of notes... you mentioned similarities to Ahmad Jamal. Ahmad Jamal has cited Garner as a big influence. i would suggest that Garner was the link between Earl Hines and later popular pianists like Jamal and Oscar Peterson.....also... while Garner wasn't part of the bebop scene, he did play with bird, most notably on Cool Blues where his style is instantly identifiable.

Remember he cut some classsic tracks with “Bird”

For proof that Bird and Garner could speak the same language, see their wonderful collaboration on "Bird's Nest," where Garner gives as good as he gets: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-SS2tPD0Pfs4.html

speaking of sophisticated and masterful swing players, teddy wilson is another giant

I've listened and analyse his style for 10 years. He was the best entertainer so.. nonred beebop

Erroll made at least one album with Charlie Parker and he did play boppish on that record, and he also gets a sort of top billing of that record, as "special guest" as I recall. Listen to the way he plays I Get A Kick out of You, with his own trio in one of these European video taped concerts, the breaks are pure bebop. But you are correct, he did not need the bebop vernacular to communicate, nor to be "hip." He was his own style of hip, totally his own category, inimitable. Really one of the brightest stars in the jazz constellation. Tatum could be said to be "better" but not more musical, nor more creative, and nobody, absolutely no one, swung as hard and for many, Erroll is much better to just enjoy and listen to, so who's to say who's better. I've heard some more obscure stuff that Fat's Waller recorded, some really virtuoso stride, and it would scare the crap outta either of those two.....

don’t pin this but please add a plug to Robin D. G. Kelley’s (the black surrealist historian and author of the only Monk biography) podcast series “Erroll Garner Uncovered” somewhere on this page!!! in it, he interviews a number of v good musicians about their musical relationship to Garner and his time, his style, his touch on the piano, etc. it is a such great resource for giving him more context as a person and for finding many more things to appreciate about his playing

It would hurt my hands to play that high, but I can see the advantage for him when he's playing octaves: he doesn't have to worry about going in and out of the black keys.

Thanks awfully !

There's a reason Bop legends like Peterson still considered him the GOAT

Hi, as an absolute fan of Erroll, I probably got all material recorded and more ( unissued ). He is a real genius in jazz music. I don't totally agree with you about bebop. Erroll recorded a tune called Trio, which sounds close to bebop. Thank you for the video.

I defy anyone to listen to Garner without smiling.

He is sitting on telephone books

? Swing came decades before bebop. Indeed some would say bebop doesn't swing.

Not only his left hand, both hands were the best in the buisness

Ah...the time for the Elf is nigh.

He was before jamal

Left hand sounds like off beat eighths (first tune)?

Oh, one more thing, it sounds a little odd to call Erroll’s playing “Ahmad Jamal-ish”. Erroll was 10 years older and I’m pretty sure the influence ran more in the other direction!!

If Kat Williams was a piano player.

Feel and sound his own ways! Common sense and awareness of his 8nspirations. Wasn't cool to be a music schooled clones. He wasn't allowed in!

It's not in the vein of bebop? There's no bebop in there? I like you but you still don't understand our music!