Elemental

Like Herb Ellis, Johnny Hartman and Duke Ellington, pianist Red Garland was one of the great gentlemen of American Jazz.

Even towards the end of a majestic career that saw him play alongside the likes of John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Cannonball Adderley, his playing maintained an element of class and grace that completely set him apart from his peers on the ivories. He was the kind of cat who preferred Hennessey to heroin. He never deviated from the baby grand, even as many of his contemporaries were experimenting with the sounds of the Moog, Fender Rhodes and Hammond B3. Even when he returned to the stage for a stellar week-long residency ast the famed San Francisco club The Keystone, he played with the same sense of fervor and class he did in his mid-50s heyday.

The year was 1977, on the 6th and 7th of December, and Garland had recently emerged from a two year long self imposed exile that left many wondering if he was gravely ill or, even worse, dead already. But as this most essential two-disc collection of highlights from his Keystone residency attests, Red was alive, well and in top form as he was joined by a priceless rhythm section of fellow veterans and longtime associates Leroy Vinnegar on bass and renowned drummer Philly Joe Jones that will be sure to please any learned ear. As a unit, they are impenetrable, be it when they smolder on ballads like “Autumn Leaves”, “Love for Sale” and “On Green Dolphin Street” or simmer to a steady boil on blues favorites like “Straight, No Chaser” and “Bag’s Groove”. The trio also do Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song” in a nod to the upcoming holiday season and a great rendition of “The Best Things in Life Are Free”, surely still on the mind of those who re-watched the half-season finale of Mad Men before digging into the season premiere on Easter Sunday.

Swingin’ on the Korner is like entering a wormhole that leads into a portal through a knot in the wall of the Keystone where you are witnessing this one-of-a-kind performance in real time. The immediacy of the sound here is raw, real and beautiful. Kudos to Elemental for providing jazz fans with this lost treasure.