Red Garland + Oliver Nelson

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

Back in March 1961, saxophonist Oliver Nelson [pictured above] teamed with pianist Red Garland for the first time. Five tracks were recorded with Richard Williams on trumpet, Peck Morrison on bass and Charlie Persip on drums. The session would be the only time Nelson and Garland recorded together—an odd and unfortunate circumstance.

What's even stranger is that the five tracks were never issued on a single album. Instead, two of the recordings came out years later on Soul Burnin', which gathered  orphaned Garland tracks recorded in 1960 and '61, while the other three songs didn't surface until Prestige releasedRediscovered Masters Vol. 2 in the '70s.

The songs recorded by this unusual quintet offer a smart spread: On Green Dolphin Street, If You Could See Me Now,Soft Winds, Avalon and Skinny's Blues. The first two wound up on Soul Burnin' while the others became part of the vault dive for Rediscovered Masters Vol. 2.

Given the spirited quality of Garland's [pictured above] swinging attack and Nelson's Coltrane-like heat on alto and tenor sax, one can only speculate why a proper "Red Meets Oliver" album was never issued. The cumulative length of the tracks totals just over 37 minutes—hardly in excess of the standard jazz album at the time. Perhaps they planned to return to the studio to record additional tracks or takes but couldn't fulfill the obligation due to any number of reasons.  

On paper, reuniting wouldn't seem to have been a problem. Both Nelson and Garland [pictured above] had extended gaps between their discographies—with Nelson not recording until Duke Ellington's Paris Blues in May and Garland's hiatus lasting until Bright and Breezy in July. But both musicians likely had tour obligations, or one or more of the date's sidemen may not have been available for additional session work.

If the problem was audio issues, certainly tape edits could have resolved them. By 1961, tape editing with a razor blade, steady hand and careful ear was common practice in studios. Or perhaps the fact that the horns solo for brief spells while the trio dominates on either end and in the middle of songs was viewed as uneven in review.

Or maybe too much Garland was already in the can and slated for release. Or, given that the location of the date says "New York" instead of "Englewood Cliffs, N.J.," perhaps the city engineer wasn't as skilled as Rudy Van Gelder to make the cuts or wasn't trusted to do so expertly. Rudy did tell me, however, that most of the Prestige dates that say "New York" were actually cut at his place. [Pictured above: Oliver Nelson]

I reached out to fellow blogger, author and jazz gentlemanDoug Ramsey, who wrote the original liner notes toRediscovered Masters.Doug also said he was puzzled by the outcome of the 1961 session but sent along part of his notes...

"The March 1961 session was Red's only encounter with the late Oliver Nelson. He had heard Nelson with Louis Jordan's big band in 1950 but had never played with him. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Nelson didn't often take part in jam sessions and didn't hang out at musicians' bars like Jim and Andy's. Garland recalls being impressed with Nelson's businesslike approach to the date and with his playing. [Photo of Red Garland above at San Francisco's Keystone Kornerin the late '70s by Brian McMillen]


'He was a perfect gentleman and a great musician, a by-the-book musician, very correct, and I'm sorry I didn't get to know him better. The other horn was 'Notes,' Richard Williams, a beauty. He has control of his instrument, good ideas, a big fat sound. A lot of guys never get the credit that's due them, and 'Notes' is one of the unfortunate ones.'"

Long-time Prestige producer and radio host Bob Porter weighed in...

"Red signed with Jazzland following the March 1961 session. He only recorded for Prestige
on one other occasion—October 9, 1962. As for Oliver, he was working a quintet with Joe Newman about that time but he was moving away from being a soloist to being a writer.

"His first big band LP (Afro-American Sketches) began in September 1961, and he was also writing strings for Etta Jones in July 1961.

  
"The Soul Burnin' album wasn’t issued until 1963. There was a ton of Red Garland in the can, as you note. By the time I arrived at Prestige in 1968 ,there was still a ton left. On my watch, Red Garland Revisited, The P.C. Bluesand It’s A Blue World were issued. More came out during the Fantasy era.

"Red was recorded with Paul Chambers and Art Taylor in a trio and with Ray Barretto in a quartet (the best-selling sound), as a soloist and with horns. If anything, he was recorded too often, but Bob Weinstock & Esmond Edwards both dug him."  

It's a shame Red Garland and Oliver Nelson didn't record together again. What is evident is the sumptuous quality of the music preserved here and how provocative the two sounded squaring off.

JazzWax tracks: You can find Red Garland's Soul Burnin'here and Rediscovered Masters Vol. 2 here. Both are frightfully expensive and may be available online at eBay or at download sites for less.

JazzWax clip: To give you a taste, here's If You Could See Me Now with Oliver Nelson on alto sax and Richard Williams on trumpet, from March 1961...
Used with permission by Marc Myers

Oliver Nelson tenor solo bearing the harmonic marks of Garland's good friend and frequent Prestige colleague John Coltrane. Nelson plays alto sax, and Williams open horn, on "If You Could See Me Now."

Red Garland and Charlie Parker

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com/

Used with permission by Marc Myers

Charlie Parker and pianist Red Garland played together several times at clubs between 1947 and 1949 in Philadelphia and again in Boston in the early 1950s. But despite their many gigs, only four known tracks exist of Parker and Garland playing on the same date. These tracks are from a Boston radio broadcast in March 1953. The recordings represent the merging of two Midwestern players, both of whom were influenced by the same saxophonist and were deeply rooted in the blues. Yesterday I spoke briefly with Roy Haynes, the drummer on the Storyville date. More with Roy in a moment.

The year 1953 was an important one for Garland. In addition to his Boston broadcast with Parker, Miles Davis had approached him to join a group he was forming. The musicians Davis lined up were Sonny Rollins on tenor sax, Oscar Pettiford on bass and Max Roach on drums. Garland happily agreed, but the group never came to be. Davis was struggling to kick a drug habit, and by the time he resumed recording for Blue Note in 1954, Horace Silver was on piano.

So for the next year or so, Garland continued playing behind Lester Young and many other headliners who passed through Boston. In March 1955, Miles Davis returned and asked Garland to be part of a recording session for Prestige with Oscar Pettiford and Philly Joe Jones. Davis wanted Garland to play light and airy, like Ahmad Jamal, and the result was The Musings of Miles. By October, Davis formed a new group, the famed quintet, with Garland, John Coltrane, Philly Joe Jones and Paul Chambers.

But two years before Musings of Miles and the emergence of his Jamalian piano approach, Garland was trying to find himself stylistically in Boston, as captured on the recordings with Charlie Parker. Born in Dallas in 1923, Garland's first instrument was the clarinet. He soon switched to alto saxophone, taking lessons from Texas saxophonist Buster Smith, who insisted that he also learn to play piano. Smith also was a big influence on Charlie Parker.
 
In the Army in 1941, Garland practiced furiously, taking informal lessons from two Army pianists. Back home after the war, Garland joined Hot Lips Page's orchestra in Dallas and toured with the band. When Page's band arrived in New York in 1946, Garland, like many musicians at the time, decided to break off on his own and freelance. He worked in New York with Billy Eckstine's band for several weeks and then played with saxophonist Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis.
 

From 1947 to 1949, Garland was in Philadelphia as the house pianist at the Blue Note, working behind Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Coleman Hawkins and many other name players who arrived at the club in need of a pianist and rhythm section. By the early 1950s, Garland increasingly was in demand, and he soon found himself in Boston playing as the house pianist at George Wein's Storyville. Which is how he came to appear with Charlie Parker, Roy Haynes and bassist Bernie Griggs during a radio broadcast on WHDH in March 1953 hosted by announcer John McLellan.

 
Four songs were performed live and somehow recorded—Moose the Mooch, I'll Walk Alone, Ornithology and Out of Nowhere. Parker is relaxed and peppery on these tracks, while Garland exhibits terrific time and a bluesy touch. But this isn't yet the Garland who would flower under Davis' direction two years later. Nevertheless, the result is fascinating, and what we hear in Boston is the beginning of Garland's earthy, polished sound.

On Moose the Mooch, Garland's solos are pure bebop, which he artfully mixes with rich chord voicings. On the walking-tempo ballad I'll Walk Alone, Garland comps beautifully behind Parker. When Garland solos, he combines Milt Buckner lock chords with Nat Cole-style improvisational lines in his right hand.

Ornithology is taken at its standard breakneck pace, but Garland here provides an interesting laid-back bop solo. The last track, a mid-tempo Out of Nowhere, features Garland's best solo, which edges closer to the rich style the pianist would employ extensively with Davis. Throughout the set, drummer Roy Haynes is pushing and shoving, dropping bombs on the bass drum, sneak- attacking on the snare with sticks, and churning out a lovely sandy swish with his brushes.
 
When I spoke with Roy yesterday, he recalled the Storyville date:

"Red and I made up the house rhythm section at Storyville. He was going with a girl up in Boston so he liked to work there steadily. Red and Bird sounded great together. When you've got a genius up front like Bird, he's listening to everything and absorbing it. Red was doing the same. You could hear them listening to each other. They were a nice fit. Hey, what do you expect? They had a great drummer [laughs]. By the way, the bass player, Bernie Griggs, was something. If he had lived longer, he would have been great."

JazzWax clip: Here's Parker and Garland together live in March 1953 at Storyville on I'll Walk Alone. Dig Garland's lock chords passage toward the end of his solo, and Roy Haynes' jack-in-the-box bass-drum accents throughout...
http://www.jazzwax.com/2010/02/red-garland-and-charlie-parker.html