LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

Recorded in a converted church in a military base near Carmel, California in 1955, Concert By The Sea is Erroll Garner's widely acclaimed pièce de résistance. A mixture of originals, show biz, and pop standards are delivered with his unique enthusiasm and spontaneity. The recording also features Eddie Calhoun on bass and Denzil Best on drums, and although it was produced using relatively primitive sound equipment, Garner's inventiveness and musical talent have ensured the album has become one of his most notable.

The release came about because Garner's personal manager, Martha Glaser, spotted backstage that a tape recorder was running. The recording was being made "by a jazz fan and scholar named Will Thornbury, strictly for the enjoyment of himself and his fellow servicemen". Glaser took the tape, put it into album form and then played it for the head of Columbia Records' jazz division, George Avakian, who decided to release it. Luckily for masses of Jazz fans, he did!

180 gram audiophile vinyl

Side A
1. I’ll Remember April
2. Teach Me Tonight
3. Mambo Carmel
4. Autumn Leaves
5. It’s All Right with Me

Side B
1. Red Top
2. April in Paris
3. They Can’t Take That Away from Me
4. How Could You Do a Thing Like That to Me
5. Where or When
6. Erroll’s Theme