Red Garland - The Complete Recordings: 1961 - 1962 (2017)

An internationally-renowned musician thanks in no small part to his close association with the likes of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, pianist Red Garland was at his artistic peak throughout the 1950s and early 1960s. Characterised through his now much-imitated style of combining octaves with fifths in his right hand block chords, Garland maintained a healthy career throughout this period, through releases as a sideman to some of the most legendary jazz musicians of the day as well as a significant number of his own recordings as bandleader. Although he continued to tour with his group over the coming years, Red Although he had been famed for his high-profile collaborations, by the early 1960s Garland was primarily focussing on his own recordings. Rejecting the shift towards modal jazz adopted by many of his contemporaries, Garland preferred to remain in a more traditional idiom, sticking with jazz standards, blues influences and occasional nods to the previous bebop era. He continued to tweak his craft in many ways. Solar would feature a quartet with the addition guitarist and flautist Les Spann, one of very few incidences where either instrument was included on a Red Garland recording. Also released in 1962, Red's Good Groove saw his group expand to a quintet with Blue Mitchell, Pepper Adams, Sam Jones and Philly Joe Jones, the latter of whom Garland had played alongside backing Miles Davis. His final and most critically acclaimed album of the year, When There Are Grey Skies (Prestige, 1962), resulted in critic Harvey Pekar to dub Garland one of the most important figures in recent jazz piano history. This collection is a fitting testament to the golden era of a much-overlooked artist. With over five hours of exceptional music in total, this set is a fascinating insight into how this remarkably talented individual managed to subtly become such an important influence on future generations of jazz pianists.