I'm embarrassed to say, as someone who likes to think of themselves as a jazz aficionado, that I did not discover Erroll Garner's Concert by the Sea until 2004...when I was in my thirties. An older gentleman, who was subbing at the high school where I was teaching at the time suggested it. I had vaguely heard of Erroll Garner but was not familiar with this album. I was shocked to find that it was a huge seller. Released in 1955 it had sold over a million copies by 1958.
The story behind this "accidental" masterpiece is a story in of itself. The concert was scheduled at the last minute and held in a concert hall in Carmel-By-The-Sea, California. It was not meant to be recorded for an album. It was recorded almost by accident. Garner's manager took the tape to Columbia Records who released it despite the sub-par recording quality.
Errol Garner's playing was so spectacular it made up for any sound engineering deficiencies. Modern technology has done a decent job of improving the sound. The bassist and drums now are clearer than ever. Garner's mastery of the piano is so great it sounds like three pianists playing, not one. It is an amazing album.
That's one of the things I love about music, regardless of genre. There's always greatness to be discovered. There's always amazing albums hiding, some in plain sight. I find this particularly true with my experience in jazz. I've been listening to jazz for over thirty years but I still "discover" brilliant stuff all the time. This year I "discovered" jazz guitarist Grant Green. How did I miss this guy? His Blue Note recordings are fantastic.
The same is true for genres of all kinds. I love finding "new" stuff from years ago.
