Erroll Garner

Erroll Garner was born Erroll Louis Garner on June 15, 1923 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He began playing piano at the age of three and at the age of seven he began appearing on a Pittsburgh radio station. At the age of eleven he was playing on the riverboats.

Erroll moved to New York City in 1944 and worked briefly with Slam Stewart. In 1947 he played with Charlie Parker on the famous "Cool Blues" session.

Garner was only 5 ft. 2 in. tall and he performed sitting on multiple telephone directories. He was self-taught and remained an "ear player" all his life. He never learned to read music. He helped to bridge the gap between nightclubs and the concert hall.

Garner's best known composition is "Misty" which rapidly became a jazz standard and was featured in Clint Eastwood's 1971 film "Play Misty for Me."

Erroll Garner died from a cardiac arrest on January 2, 1977 at the age of 53. He is buried in Pittsburgh's Homewood Cemetary.

Earlier this afternoon I listened to Erroll's album "Concert by the Sea." This is a 1955 live concert given at the Sunset Center in Carmel by the Sea, California. He is accompanied by Eddie Calhoun on bass and Denzil Best on drums. The album is rated at 5 stars by AllMusic Guide.

The tunes include "I'll Remember April," "Teach Me Tonight," "Autumn Leaves," "April in Paris," "They Can't Take That Away From Me," and "Where or When," among others.



Here's a video of Erroll playing "Misty"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88b0DCEBLcU&feature=player_detailpage