Erroll Garner’s Concert By the Sea was one of those legendary jazz records. But, much of the music from that live concert wasn’t on the record. There were major problems over the rights to the music. Now, 60 years later, the complete concert has just been remastered and released in a wonderful 3-CD package. Plenty of great sounding music here! There are 11 previously unreleased tracks. If you have even a causal interest in jazz, you’ll want to hear this music. Erroll Garner is an underrated performer. This complete concert should change that. GRADE: A
TRACK LIST:
Disc: 1
1. Announcer: Jimmy Lyons
2. Night And Day
3. Spring Is Here
4. I’ll Remember April
5. The Nearness Of You
6. Where Or When
7. Sweet And Lovely
8. Lullaby Of Birdland
9. Mambo Carmel
10. Teach Me Tonight
11. Will You Still Be Mine
12. I Cover The Waterfront
13. Bernie’s Tune
14. How Could You Do A Thing Like That To Me?
15. It’s All Right With Me
Disc: 2
1. Announcer: Jimmy Lyons
2. They Can’t Take That Away From Me
3. Autumn Leaves
4. S’Wonderful
5. Laura
6. Red Top
7. April In Paris
8. Caravan
9. Erroll’s Theme/Announcer: Jimmy Lyons
Disc: 3
1. I’ll Remember April
2. Teach Me Tonight
3. Mambo Carmel
4. Autumn Leaves
5. It’s All Right With Me
6. Red Top
7. April in Paris
8. They Can’t Take That Away From Me?
9. How Could You Do A Thing Like That To Me
10. Where or When
11. Erroll’s Theme
12. Post Concert Interview: Will Thornbury with Erroll Garner, Eddie Calhoun, Denzil DaCosta Best: September 19, 1955
One of the great ones!
Patti, this new edition of THE COMPLETE CONCERT BY THE SEA is terrific!
I heard Erroll perform at an in-the-round venue, Musicarnival, in suburban Cleveland ca. 1962. I was in high school, recently certified to drive, and It was the first live musical performance I had attended on my own hook, no parents. I already had the Concert By The Sea LP (and still have it), but I was wholly unprepared for the shattering experience of hearing a live performance by a virtuoso musician. Memory of that concert – which I suppose was a routine gig for Erroll, though he played his ass off – has stuck with me ever since, and that event is in large part responsible for my having sought out live music, classical & jazz, ever since. The next summer (I think) Musicarnival booked Duke Ellington’s band, back when he still had the core group of players who had been with him since the ’30s, and what a memorable afternoon that was!
Art, that kind of live concert experience seems to be lacking today. We’ve had 70,000 fans show up at Ralph Wilson Stadium for the Rolling Stones this summer. The Eagles played to 20,000 fans at the First Niagara Center. But small, intimate concerts seem to have gone the way of the dinosaurs.
Nostalgically inspired, I found quite a bit about Musicarnival on the web. It was a tent theater, in-the-round, open late spring through early fall, and its bread and butter was presenting classic American musicals with no-name professional performers. 2500 seats; closed 1975. I vaguely remember being taken by my parents to see Carousel, which I hated. They supplemented the musicals with touring pop and jazz musicians. In addition to Garner and Ellington, I saw Sun Ra’s big band (pardon me, Solar Arkestra) there. What a strange afternoon that was, Space Is The Place comes to Warrensville Heights!
Art, I can see where these experiences affected your collecting!
It ate my comment, which was that I’ve ordered this.
Jeff, WORDPRESS gets hungry sometimes.
Thanks for the tip, I’ll check out some clips.
I’d forgotten how much Garner loved his flourishes. I’ll take Bill Evans or Oscar Peterson instead, thanks.
I’ve been meaning to pick up my own copy of CONCERT BY THE SEA for decades, but never got around to it…and I suspect part of the CBS/Sony inertia was simply how damned well and steadily the original album sold. KIND OF BLUE took a while to catch up. Flourishes there may be, but after Keith Jarrett at his most self-indulgent (and Evans at his most noodling), Garner can seem the soul of self-control…and while none of them is Art Tatum, who else is? My own inertia seems to have paid off…
Todd, you will love this new edition of THE COMPLETE CONCERT BY THE SEA!
Actually, aside from the jazz clubs where I’ve seen some wonderful concerts, the universities sometimes are a wonder, and the smaller classical halls…the only time I’ll see Gil Scott-Heron’s band was at George Mason University, for free…and the DC Free Jazz Festivals were always a wonder.
It’s a jazzy set this month: http://socialistjazz.blogspot.com/2015/09/septembers-underappreciated-music-links.html