Gemini (Octave Remastered Series) Erroll Garner

• 1 How High the Moon (Remastered 2020) 05:08
• 2 It Could Happen to You (Remastered 2020) 03:49
• 3 Gemini (Remastered 2020) 04:05
• 4 When a Gypsy Makes His Violin Cry (Remastered 2020) 06:25
• 5 Tea for Two (Remastered 2020) 05:28
• 6 Something (Remastered 2020) 01:51
• 7 Eldorado (Remastered 2020) 05:54
• 8 These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You) (Remastered 2020) 07:03
• 9 Misty (Remastered 2020) 02:47
• Total Runtime 42:30

Info for Gemini (Octave Remastered Series)

A more fitting title for this album does not exist. It is yet another example of just how well Erroll Garner knew and understood himself and his music. Perhaps his greatest talent was an ability to distill and communicate precisely who he was at any given moment. Here we find him perfectly embodying the definition of his sun sign. Whatever your views on astrology might be, all that is left to do is listen.

The Erroll Garner Octave Remastered Series represents the heart of Erroll Garner’s recorded catalog. Spanning 12 albums and the last 18 years of Garner’s career, this collection of music is among the most important in the history of jazz. It represents an artist in his prime, with full creative and commercial control of his output following his break with Columbia Records.

Erroll Garner, piano, harpsichord
Ernest McCarty, Jr., bass
Jimmie Smith, percussion
José Mangual, congas

Digitally remastered

Erroll Garner
is one of the most distinctive pianists of the jazz genre. Other than Thelonious Monk, no one is more identifiable or harder to imitate. A self-taught virtuoso, Garner devised a solo style that eliminated rhythm accompaniment. His hands worked totally independent of each other. With block chords he set the rhythmic tempo in his left hand, and with his right, he embellished on the tune, taking liberties with melody and time, often lagging behind the beat. Some jazz purists dismissed him because he maintained his style throughout his career and enjoyed popularity unknown to most jazz artists. But Garner’s interpretive abilities and technical superiority cannot be denied.

He made frequent TV appearances, toured five continents, fronted major symphony orchestras, and composed film scores. His compositions were for jazz piano, but in 1962, when Johnny Burke added lyrics to “Misty,” Garner’s 1954 tune soared in popularity and entered the jazz standard repertoire.

Garner began his professional career at seven, playing with the Candy Kids, and at 16 he joined the Leroy Brown band. In 1944-45 he played in a trio with bassist Slam Stewart and guitarist Tiny Grimes before setting off on his solo career.

During the ‘60s Garner established his own record label. These LP’s have been reissued on CD by Telarc and reveal Garner’s sense of humor. The title cut of That’s My Kick is a new composition based on the changes of “I Get a Kick Out of You”; the lounge set song, “More,” is remade into a burner; and Garner makes “Tea for Two” fresh, playing with the time against bongo accompaniment, and alternating between piano and harpsichord. Still, Concert By The Sea (1955) is the epitome of his artistry.

His older brother Linton, who died in 2003, was also an accomplished pianist, based in Vancouver, B.C. (Sandra Burlingame)

This album contains no booklet.