ORIGINAL 1968 LP LINER NOTES

It's nice to be up here in Erroll's room. It's a music room, of course, and the music is made as only the host can make it.

Erroll Garner is a phenomenon. Not only be cause he is a unique and uniquely creative musician, with a style so personal and inimitable that legions of imitators have not been able to rob it of its freshness, but because, even after many years of playing, he continues to surpass himself. 

That is an uncommon thing, and perhaps even more uncommon in jazz than in other arts. For while jazz is an intensely personal art, it also consumes the artist. Some burn brightly for a moment, then fall into obscurity. Some endure long after the spark has died, coasting on memory and remnants of greatness. Others get their "thing" down so pat that few realize they've lost their fire. 

Garner hasn't lost it. His secret, perhaps—and it's an open secret—is that he loves to play the piano. It is a love that cannot be exhausted, and it exists, as does any true love, not for its own sake but for the sake of celebrating life. Erroll Garner doesn't just play to please himself, but to give pleasure. 

And that is what he gives whenever he sits down to play for you on his trusted Manhattan telephone directory. It is a joy to hear him play, from first to last note. because he draws you into his orbit—fully and immediately. 

In a time when the obscure, the tortured, the pathological, the distorted, and the frantic are equated with profundity and creativity, it is no wonder that Garner has been taken for granted or ignored by the self-styled prophets of art-as-a garbled-message. 

For Garner is none of these things. He is clear, joyful, sane, balanced, and relaxed. And his message, while far from simple, is always clear. Not surprisingly, he shares these qualities with other great artists. Clarity of expression, felicity of phrase, a sense of balance and proportion, and mastery of touch ... are these not things we associate with greatness when we're not putting our selves and others on? 

The album before you is Garner at his best, and that is as good as they come. It has been expertly culled from an unusually fertile round of sessions. The program is varied and far-ranging, and en compasses many moods. There are some great old things, invested with new life; some fine recent things, played often, but never before like this, and an impromptu original—a marvelous blues —that is worth the price of admission to Erroll's room all by itself

Speaking for myself, I particularly appreciate I Got Rhythm, “Cheek to Cheek”, “Groovin' High”, and the fabulous “Talk of the Town”, as well as the aforementioned title piece. Perhaps this is be cause every one of these has special associations for me, as they will have for other jazz lovers of seasoned vintage. But you will find your own favorites. 

Maybe Watermelon Man, which rocks and swings—a rare and unbeatable combination. Or The Girl from Ipanema, which kicks and flows. Or Coffee in Brazil, as perky as its title implies. Everything offered in this Garner cornucopia is a Garner gem. 

Garner's helpmates acquit themselves excellently. Garner could make the most moribund rhythm section appear to have some semblance of life, for his inspiriting beat could make a dead man tap his toes. But here he is in good company and doesn't have to struggle. Bassist Ike Isaacs, who's been on the scene for a while, reveals him self to be a topnotcher; drummer Jimmie Smith proves that young musicians can swing, and Latin percussionist Jose Mangual has an almost un canny rapport with Garner. 

For the tracks with orchestral accompaniment, Don Sebesky has furnished tasteful, unobtrusive backdrops, adding warm, complementary colors to the canvasses originally conceived and delineated by Garner. His ideas are often felicitous, as when he deftly parallels a Garner chordal passage on I Got Rhythm—an exhilarating moment. 

If Garner with appropriate backing is a treat, Garner alone can be a revelation. His introductions (it's almost a pity that the titles are given away in front, since trying to guess where he is headed and he never fails to give clues—is a hugely enjoyable and instructive game) are fascinating. Bristling with ideas, filled with startling poly rhythms, they are as "avant garde" as the most radical new thing, but never freakish. No two are alike, and none is ever played the same way twice. (Garner throws away more ideas than most good pianists come up with in a lifetime.) A very special bonus is the opening solo passage on Talk of the Town, which is destined to become a Garner classic. 

Come on up to Erroll's room. It's the grooviest pad in town—and this album is your standing return invitation. 

Original Liner Notes by DAN MORGENSTERN