ERROLL GARNER – 1949, Vol. 2 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1182 (2001) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

One of Erroll Garner's very best albums, The Greatest Garner (Atlantic LP 1227), drew heavily upon the pianist's outstanding session of July 20, 1949. This ninth installment in the complete recordings of Erroll Garner on Classics places that session in context by presenting eight titles recorded for Savoy exactly one month earlier, together with four selections gleaned from a Gene Norman Just Jazz concert in Los Angeles. These are enjoyable tidbits, but the previously mentioned Atlantic session is the real treasure. This is chamber jazz of the highest order. While some critics and commentators seem to chafe at Garner's ethereal tendencies during ballads and introspective interludes, it is precisely these graceful moments that contrast so nicely with his familiar rambunctious manner. Maybe that's why this particular compilation feels so wonderfully well balanced. Garner gets his licks in with Rodgers & Hart and Fields & McHugh, floats through a Ravel "Pavanne" and a Debussy "Reverie," answers these mysteries with his own "Impressions" and private visions of "Twilight" and "Turquoise," muses over Hoagy Carmichael's "Skylark," and closes with Jerome Kern's "The Way You Look Tonight," a beautiful rendering that belongs among his very greatest achievements on record for its theatrical timing, ebullient pacing, and immaculate execution. arwulf arwulf  
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