Erroll Garner (1923–1977) was a one-of-a-kind jazz pianist. A Puckish figure, he was 5-foot-2 and usually sat on a telephone book when he performed. He never learned how to read music, yet he penned the ballad “Misty” and was an intrepid improviser. Garner usually played in a trio, and his bass player and drummer had to be alert to keep up with him.
His album “Concert by the Sea,” recorded live in Carmel, California, in 1955, is one of the best-selling albums of all time. Yet, the original LP contained only about half of the music that was performed that day.
To honor the 60th anniversary of the concert, Sony Legacy and Octave Music Publishing have released the complete concert in a lavish 3-CD set. It contains 11 previously unissued tracks from the concert and post-concert interviews of Garner and his two band members (drummer Denzil DaCosta Best and bassist Eddie Calhoun) by Will Thornbury, a recording engineer for the Armed Forces Radio Network who had taped the concert.
