Red Garland
William "Red" Garland (May 13, 1923 April 23,
1984)[1] was an American modern jazz pianist. Known
for his work as a bandleader and during the 1950s with
Miles Davis, Garland helped popularize the block chord
style of piano playing.[2][3]
1 Early life
William Red Garland was born in 1923 in Dallas,
Texas. He began his musical studies on the clarinet and
alto saxophone but, in 1941, switched to the piano. Less
than ve years later, Garland joined a well-known trum-
pet player in the southwest - Hot Lips Page, playing with
him until a tour ended in New York in March 1946. Hav-
ing decided to stay in New York to nd work, Art Blakey
came across Garland playing at a small club, only to re-
turn the next night with Blakeys boss, Billy Eckstine.[4]
Garland also had short-lived career as a welterweight
boxer in the 1940s. He fought more than 35 ghts, one
being an exhibition bout with Sugar Ray Robinson.[5]
2 Later life and career
2.1 194654
After the Second World War, Garland performed with
Billy Eckstine, Roy Eldridge, Coleman Hawkins, Charlie
Parker, and Lester Young. He found steady work in the
cities of Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia. In the
late 1940s, he toured with Eddie Vinson at the same time
that John Coltrane was in Vinsons band. His creativity
and playing ability continued to improve, though he was
still somewhat obscure. By the time he became a pianist
for Miles Davis, he was inuenced by Ahmad Jamal and
Charlie Parkers pianist Walter Bishop.
2.2 195558 Miles Davis Quintet
Garland became famous in 1954 when he joined the
Miles Davis Quintet, featuring John Coltrane, Philly Joe
Jones, and Paul Chambers. Davis was a fan of box-
ing and was impressed that Garland had boxed earlier
in his life. Together, the group recorded their famous
Prestige albums, Miles: The New Miles Davis Quintet
(1954), Workin, Steamin', Cookin', and Relaxin'. Gar-
lands style is prominent in these seminal recordings
1
evident in his distinctive chord voicings, his sophisticated
accompaniment, and his musical references to Ahmad
Jamals style. Some observers dismissed Garland as a
cocktail pianist,[6] but Miles was pleased with his style,
having urged Garland to absorb some of Jamals lightness
of touch and harmonics within his own approach.[7]
Garland played on the rst of Daviss many Columbia
recordings, 'Round About Midnight (1957). Though he
would continue playing with Miles, their relationship
was beginning to deteriorate. By 1958, Garland and
Jones had started to become more erratic in turning up
for recordings and shows. He was eventually red by
Miles, but later returned to play on another jazz classic,
Milestones. Davis was displeased when Garland quoted
Daviss much earlier, and by then famous, solo from
Nows The Time in block chords during the slower take
of Straight, No Chaser. Garland walked out of one
of the sessions for Milestones, so that on the track Sids
Ahead, Davis comped behind the saxophone solos.
2.3 195884 After the Miles Davis Quin-
tet
In 1958, Garland formed his own trio. Among the mu-
sicians the trio recorded with are Pepper Adams, Nat
Adderley (Cannonball Adderley's brother), Ray Barretto,
Kenny Burrell, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Jimmy Heath,
Harold Land, Philly Joe Jones, Blue Mitchell, Ira Sul-
livan, and Leroy Vinnegar. The trio also recorded as
a quintet with John Coltrane and Donald Byrd.[8] Alto-
gether, Garland led 19 recording sessions while at Pres-
tige Records and 25 sessions for Fantasy Records. He
stopped playing professionally for a number of years in
the 1960s when the popularity of rock music coincided
with a substantial drop in the popularity of jazz.
Garland eventually returned to his native Texas in the
1970s to care for his aged mother. He led a recording in
1977, named Crossings, which reunited him with Philly
Joe Jones, and he teamed up with world-class bassist Ron
Carter. His later work tended to sound more modern and
less polished than his better known recordings. He con-
tinued recording until his death from a heart attack on
April 23, 1984 at the age of 60.[9]
2 4 PARTIAL DISCOGRAPHY

3 Playing style The Red Garland Trio + Eddie Lockjaw Davis

(Moodsville, 1959)
Garlands trademark block chord technique, a commonly
borrowed maneuver in jazz piano today, was unique and Soul Junction (Prestige, 1960)
diered from the methods of earlier block chord pioneers
such as George Shearing and Milt Buckner. Garlands Red Garland at the Prelude (Prestige, 1960)
block chords were constructed of three notes in the right
hand and four in the left hand, with the right hand one Red Alone (Moodsville, 1960)
octave above the left. Garlands left hand played four-
note chords that simultaneously beat out the same ex- Alone with the Blues (Moodsville, 1960)
act rhythm as the right-hand melody played. But unlike
George Shearings block chord method, Garlands left- Halleloo-Y'-All (Prestige, 1960)
hand chords did not change positions or inversions un-
til the next chord change occurred. It is also worth not- Bright and Breezy (Jazzland, 1961)
ing that Garlands four-note left-hand chord voicings fre-
quently left out the roots of the chords, a chord style later The Nearness of You (Jazzland, 1961)
associated with pianist Bill Evans.
Solar (Jazzland, 1962)

Reds Good Groove (Jazzland, 1962)

4 Partial discography
When There Are Grey Skies (Prestige, 1962)
4.1 As leader
Lil' Darlin' (Status, 1963)
A Garland of Red (Prestige, 1956)
The Quota (MPS, 1971)
Red Garlands Piano (Prestige, 1956)

Red Garland Revisited! (Prestige, 1957 [1969]) Auf Wiedersehen (MPS, 1971)

The P.C. Blues (Prestige, 1956-57 [1970]) Groovin' Live (Alfa Jazz, 1974)

Groovy (Prestige, 195657) Groovin' Live II (Alfa Jazz, 1974)

John Coltrane with the Red Garland Trio (Prestige,
Keystones! (Xanadu, 1977)
1957) - with John Coltrane

All Mornin' Long (Prestige, 1957) Groovin' Red (Keystone, 1977)

High Pressure (1957) Red Alert (Galaxy, 1977)

Dig It! (Prestige, 195758) Crossings (Galaxy, 1977)

Its a Blue World (Prestige, 1958)
Feelin' Red (Muse, 1978)
Manteca (Prestige, 1958)
Equinox (Galaxy, 1978)
Can't See for Lookin' (Prestige, 1958)
Stepping Out (Galaxy, 1979)
Rojo (Prestige, 1958)

The Red Garland Trio (Moodsville, 1958) So Long Blues (Galaxy, 1979)

All Kinds of Weather (Prestige, 1958) Strike Up the Band (Galaxy, 1979)

Red in Bluesville (Prestige, 1959)

Compilations
Coleman Hawkins with the Red Garland Trio
(Moodsville, 1959) - with Coleman Hawkins
Rediscovered Masters (Prestige 1958-1961; released
Satin Doll (Prestige, 1959 [1971]) 1977)

Red Garland Live! (Prestige, 1959) Soul Burnin' (Prestige 1959-1961; released 1964)
 3

4.2 As sideman 5 References

With Arnett Cobb [1] Dobbins, Bill; Kernfeld, Barry (2002). Garland, Red.
In Barry Kernfeld. The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz,
Sizzlin' (Prestige, 1960) vol. 2 (2nd ed.). New York: Groves Dictionaries Inc. p.
14. ISBN 1561592846.
Ballads by Cobb (Moodsville, 1960)
[2] Yanow, Scott. Red Garland Biography. AllMusic. All
Media Network. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
With John Coltrane
[3] Simpson, Joel. Red Garland Prole. All About Jazz.
Retrieved 28 August 2016.
Traneing In (Prestige 1958)
[4] Seeing Red. Texas Monthly. 1977-03-01.
Soultrane (Prestige 1958)
[5] Szwed, John (2004-01-09). So What: The Life of Miles
Lush Life (Prestige 1961) Davis. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780684859835.
Settin' The Pace (Prestige 1961) [6] Giddins, Garry (April 3, 1978). Red Garlands Texas
Cocktail. The Village Voice. p. 49.
The Believer (Prestige 1964)
[7] Mathieson, Kenny (2012). Giant Steps: Bebop And The
The Last Trane (Prestige 1965) Creators Of Modern Jazz, 1945-65. Canongate Books. p.
209. ISBN 978-0-85786-617-2.
With Miles Davis
[8] Discogs.com. Discogs.com. Retrieved 2017-02-25.

The Musings of Miles (Prestige 1955) [9] Pareles, John (26 April 1984). Red Garland, a Pianist in
Miles Davis Quintet. The New York Times.
Miles: The New Miles Davis Quintet (Prestige 1955)
Cookin' with The Miles Davis Quintet (Prestige 1956)
6 External links
Relaxin' with The Miles Davis Quintet (Prestige
1956) Reds Bells, an in-depth analysis by Ethan Iverson
Workin' with The Miles Davis Quintet (Prestige Red Garland discography at Discogs
1956)
Red Garland on Internet Movie Database
Steamin' with The Miles Davis Quintet (Prestige
1956) Red Garland at Find a Grave

'Round About Midnight (Columbia 1957)

Milestones (Columbia 1958)

With Curtis Fuller

With Red Garland [Sonny Red] (Prestige 1957)

With Jackie McLean

McLeans Scene - 3 tracks [Bill Hardman] (Prestige

1956)

With Art Pepper

Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section (Contemporary

1957)

With Phil Woods

Sugan (Prestige Status, 1957)

4 7 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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Red Garland Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Garland?oldid=782043576 Contributors: Trontonian, Zoicon5, Revth, PBrain,
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