Following the success of last year's Complete Concert by the Sea, Legacy Recordings has another special release planned for fans of late jazz legend Erroll Garner. On September 30, the label will release Garner's Ready Take One, presenting fourteen previously unreleased selections by Garner released between 1967 and 1971. This is the first album of all-new Garner material to be released in almost 25 years.
The performances on Ready Take One have been culled from seven sessions held in 1967, 1969 and 1971 in locales including New York City and Chicago. The pianist was joined by musicians as follows: drums (Jimmie Smith, Joe Cocuzzo), bass (Earnest McCarty, Jr., Ike Isaacs, George Duvivier, Larry Gales) and percussion (Jose Mangual). Among the tracks are six previously unreleased Garner compositions ("High Wire," "Wild Music," "Back to You," "Chase Me," "Latin Digs" and "Down Wylie Avenue") and a host of standards ranging from Duke Ellington's "Caravan" and "Satin Doll" to Cole Porter's "Night and Day" and Garner's own immortal "Misty." Garner also tackles Bobby Hebb's pop hit "Sunny," "Stella by Starlight" and more.
The release also includes snippets of conversation between Garner and producer-manager Martha Glaser. Album producer Geri Allen notes in the press release that Glaser was "a kind of fifth member of the band" and "would support Erroll Garner in the moment of the creative act." On June 15, 2015, Glaser's estate announced the formation of the Erroll Garner Jazz Project, an archival celebration of Garner's remarkable legacy. The Erroll Garner Archive was donated to the University of Pittsburgh.
All tracks on Ready Take One have been newly restored after nearly 50 years on acetate. You can hear one of those cuts for yourself, as "Wild Music" is streaming now at The New York Times. Ready Take One will initially be available on CD and DD, with a vinyl pressing to follow.
You can pre-order this exciting new collection, due on September 30 from Legacy in conjunction with Octave Music Licensing, at the links below!
Erroll Garner, Ready Take One (Legacy/Octave, 2016) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
- High Wire
- I Want To Be Happy
- I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)
- Sunny
- Wild Music
- Caravan
- Back To You
- Night And Day
- Chase Me
- Satin Doll
- Latin Digs
- Stella By Starlight
- Down Wylie Avenue
- Misty
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