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About Red Garland
Red Garland (Jazzland / OJC OJCCD-1064-2: Red's Good Groove
by C. Michael Bailey
When Red is Blue.
And Red is always blue when he records. Death, Taxes, and Red Garland playing the blues— One can count on all of these things. Red's Good Groove was recorded in early 1962 by the Miles Davis nucleus of Garland and drummer Philly Joe Jones. Sam Jones replaces the ubiquitous Paul Chambers and Blue Mitchell and Pepper Adams round out the not-so-common trumpet-baritone front. This is a brief and relaxed session that finds some rather intricate ...
Continue ReadingRed Garland Trio: It's a Blue World
by Derek Taylor
One of the hardest working trios of the 50s the Garland/Chambers/Taylor unit recorded more than a dozen sessions for the Prestige label and its subsidiaries during a four year stretch at the close of the decade. In slightly different form with “Philly” Joe Jones replacing Taylor they were also the formidable rhythm section for Miles Davis’ first great quintet with John Coltrane. Both their fecundity and their choice of projects point to the fact that this trio was something special ...
Continue ReadingRed Garland Trio: Groovy
by Douglas Payne
This trio was known as the rhythm section when Groovy was made. Pianist Red Garland (1923-84), bassist Paul Chambers (1935-69) and drummer Art Taylor (1929-95) were in the midst of a long tenure with Miles Davis and stayed busy in studios backing one horn player after another. The unit's simpatico refinement never wavers in doubt. They were made for each other, honed in night-after-night of performances in a variety of settings. Consider the way Garland balances his chunky block chords ...
Continue ReadingJohn Coltrane: Soultrane
by Douglas Payne
Tenor Titan John Coltrane (1926-67) made his solo recording debut on Prestige in 1956 and during his two and a half years with the label, sat in on an incredible 25 sessions. In 1958 alone, he'd recorded eight albums for the label and Prestige had enough material to continue releasing new Coltrane material into 1964! He never slowed down, leaving Prestige to record prolifically for Atlantic. Then, of course, there were the truckloads of significant records made for ...
Continue ReadingVarious Artists: The Prestige Records Story
by Douglas Payne
From 1949 through 1971, Prestige Records was among the most famous and successful of the independent jazz labels. Perhaps only Blue Note, which had its reign during roughly the same period, provided Prestige with significant competition. Both maintained strong, unique identities--even shared many of the same musicians and, in most cases, engineer Rudy Van Gelder. But Blue Note lavished more money on rehearsals and their albums sounded more planned than those that came from Prestige. Still, it was the spontaneous ...
Continue ReadingVarious Artists: The Prestige Records Story
by Robert Spencer
This is much more than the history of just one label: this is a primer of modern jazz. The sweep of Bob Weinstock and Prestige Records, particularly in the Fifties and early Sixties, was so broad that this collection encompasses a large part of the jazz that mattered in those days. There is a stunning roster of the biggest names possible, including Miles Davis, Gil Evans, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Coleman Hawkins, Eric Dolphy, and Dexter Gordon. There's ...
Continue ReadingRed Garland: The Nearness of You
by AAJ Staff
From time to time Red Garland would do something new in his long series of albums, injecting some variety into his classic formula. Sometimes it was an added musician, or there’d be a “theme” album like WHEN THERE ARE GREY SKIES, full of old tunes like “St. James Infirmary”. This is one of the latter – an all-ballad set. Considering how lyrical Red was, this was a natural, although he only did it a couple of times (the others were ...
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