Red Garland - The Quota '1973/2015

Tracks list

After being very active on records and in clubs from 1955-62, pianist Red
Garland went back to his native Texas. He did not return to records until 1971,
when he cut Auf Wiedersehen and this particular LP, which has not yet been
reissued on CD; except for a couple of Japanese dates in 1974, it would be
another six years before Garland began making a real comeback. Teamed up with
Jimmy Heath (who doubles on tenor and soprano), bassist Peck Morrison and
drummer Lenny McBrowne, Garland plays in the same distinctive style he had in
the 1950s, not showing any decline or loss of chops. The quartet performs four
jazz standards, the title cut (a Heath original), and Leroy Vinnegars For Carl.
Pianist Red Garland’s place in the jazz pantheon is secure through his
work with Miles Davis’ First Great Quintet (1955-58). His shimmering tone
and sophisticated voicings contributed to the distinct sound of that
group’s seminal recordings. In the next seven years he recorded over 40
albums, but abruptly left the New York scene in 1965, returning to his native
Texas. Fortunately, in 1971 MPS brought Garland back to the Big Apple for a
two-record date. The Quota shows off Red Garland’s communion with
composer and saxophone great Jimmy Heath. The title piece, by Heath, puts
forward a laid-back medium-tempo minor blues, with Heath’s eloquently
passionate tenor and Garland’s ebullient, earthy piano sharing the solos.
Henry Mancini’s Days of Wine and Roses is given an appropriate
bitter-sweet tinge, while For Carl is a delightfully upbeat jazz waltz. Garland
takes the melody and first solo On a Clear Day as the group romps through a
gorgeously sunny rendition of this tune.
Garland injects just the right amount of pathos in his unaccompanied intro to
Cole Porter’s Love for Sale before Heath’s and Garland’s
sizzling improvisations. The band scampers through the changes of The Squirrel,
an up-tempo blues by the vital bop era composer Tad Dameron. Garland’s
inimitable style didn’t change much with the times – some things
are best left as they are!

Tracks:

01. The Quota (5:47)
02. Days Of Wine And Roses (7:44)
03. For Carl (5:46)
04. The Squirrel (5:02)
05. On A Clear Day (4:32)
06. Love For Sale (9:47)

Personnel:

Red Garland - piano
Jimmy Heath - tenor and soprano saxophones
Peck Morrison - bass
Lenny McBrowne - drums

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