errol garner

Jim Carlton turned me onto this vid a few months back. Errol here is no shock to anyone who's ever heard him. He never played anything the same way twice. Look at the bassist here: he obviously is waiting for his cue to come in, and Errol obviously hasn't run out of stuff to play by himself yet. Very few people in any type of music walk out on the bandstand with the true intention to improvise in the truest sense. A lot of bands/artists throw a few different licks in a different order, but they don't hit the stand hoping for new things to happen. Quite the opposite.

There's a lot of comedy and theatricality in Errol's playing, which I love. Also, his time is incredible. He plays all over the beat -- on it, lagging behind it, over barlines -- without the time ever feeling compromised. He never repeats himself (a trait he shares with Cannonball Adderley, another improvising giant whose reputation is not in line with his truly awesome creative powers). And he never does gratuitous showboaty stuff, even when he's doing the big, blustery flagwaving. He tears down his own hubris. The older I get, the more I humble myself to everything about his greatness. Errol garner is a role model for anyone who is trying to live up to the art of improvising.

Another great pianist (and improvisor), Fred Kaz, once told me that there are few pianists he'd walk across town to see. As for Errol?

"I'd walk across town to see where he played last night."