I heard a story that someone criticized Erroll because of his inability to read music. He responded by saying,"No one comes to watch me read." Thanks for posting.
His music brought me and my husband together in 1959. Especially Misty, that was our favorite song. We were married fifty years. Misty was so special to us. Thank you, Errol xx
Three interesting facts about Garner: (1) He composed this beautiful creation, Misty. (2) He was only 5 feet 2 inches tall. (3) He never learned to read music and composed Misty using a dictaphone, getting friends to transcribe it later into a musical score.
Not too bad. I'm only a 5'4" male. At 72 I can kinda-sorta do (kinda-sorta) do what the man does. We short guys work harder I guess. Dean Seattle Jazz Alley
@@user-lb4ew7gr2j Idon’t know man, erroll is born with a certain feeling in his hands that can never be achieved by any experience level whatsoever. It’s just his genetic advantage of mobility.
@@l3gendbaap963 and at one point he couldn't play at all; taking what he said literally a million years is more than enough time as long as you're actively learning
Most good pianist can play without looking at there fingers - most of the time. After a while you just know where the keys are. I know because I play piano also - absolutely no where as great as he can. But as I said, if you practice enough you really get to know the keyboard.
Yes, I’m aware that a brilliant pianist doesn’t have to look at his fingers or the keybord. But Erroll even turns his head often and looks away while playing at high speed.
That's what happens when you have passion for what you do. At that point, you don't even have to worry about things like that, it just comes naturally.
When I was 14, my mother bought me Andre Previn and Oscar Peterson albums, then I was hooked on jazz piano. Then followed Erroll and Bill Evans. I have played "Misty" on the piano since I was about 10 years old, about 60 years! "Misty" is one of the greatest love ballads of all time!
@Wes McGee Clint Eastwood, Jessica Walter in Play Misty For Me. I put that movie with Hitchcocks's Psycho as two great, disturbing thrillers that hit the big screen. I have yet since either was released, ever to watched them again,lol.
You are so right about 'Misty', but Erroll Garner's splendid introductions sold me on his performance skills from the first few notes - he invites interest by invention.
@@vinyltapelover I was eating at a restaurant in Monterey once wondering why it looked so deja vu familiar and the waiter said "Did you ever see Play Misty for Me?" Classic movie and classic song - so many great versions it's nice to see Garner do it.
@@xxcrump3297 Actually the reason he isn't looking at the piano is because he was blind. He was playing by touch, just like Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder.
How is this man not more worldly recognized. He has such a beautiful and unique style in approaching jazz piano with his left hand swinging rhythm section accompanied by the right hand octave melody lines. Erroll was living proof that jazz is one of the greatest art forms. This video deserves 7 billion views.
I always thought Errol Garner was pretty recognised in music... always mentioned in classical and jazz circles, particularly in his day. I just heard something about him in a doc about the evolution of jazz recently ...
At my family's Bar and Restaurant in NYC he was playing in our bar, I sat at the bar listening, sometimes hiding behind the jukebox because I was not allowed in, he played a few nights a week for years and I didnt know what I was hearing...I play Jazz guitar now and boy do I know how lucky I was
Dude that line at 2:40 was freakin insane. So much creativity in the line itself, but he puts these beautiful chords behind such a well constructed melody. What a line. 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻🤤🤤🥵😩
'block chords'. Garner was a master at playing the line in octaves in the right hand, with harmony notes filling in the chord. He could use grace notes on the top or even with the thumb and you can hear how gorgeous his tremolo was, splitting the block into two halves. Other pianists used different block chord styles
I'm thinking it might just be best if we never look at our hands and "just go with it" as the late Deems Tsutakawa said to me a few years ago during his break at Jazz Alley here in Seattle.
He couldn’t read sheet music anyways 😂 he was just that talented that he didn’t rely on sheet music but on some savant level sense of how the piano and harmony works
Erroll Garner is the King of improvisation, composing, uttering, executing , arranging anything without previous preparation and without the ability to read music. Total genius. RIP
An elderly friend told me of her husband who played the piano in Madison square gardens during the war, whilst playing Misty a gentleman stood behind him listening, when finished the gentleman complemented him on his playing in his words 'never have I heard this song played so perfect with such feeling' he thanked the gentleman and asked his name ? the gentleman replied .... Erroll Garner I wrote it sir ! :)
My mom's favorite piano player, Errol Garner. What great control and touch. Mom loved Errol's big, blasting chords and fabulous style. Don't we all. What a gift to America. RIP Errol Garner.
YankeeClippa Yes, he was a musical genius. He wrote it, so that's why he plays it with such style. He knows every perfectly placed note. Another person wrote the lyrics. Together they crerated one of the finest love songs of all time.
If Erroll Garner had had the finest musical education, and learned the intricasies of musical scoring from the best in the country he would not have played any better. His genius rose above learning by rote - he simply mastered the instrument and let his magical emotional depth flow through his fingers onto the right keys. What wonderful interpretations he gave us.
Interpretations? If you are referring to the song "Misty", he didn't interpret it, he wrote it. If that isn't what you meant, then disregard my comment.
Gary Rice interpretations in context would mean his style or his methods of playing here, also what hes playing too. it's not the actual denotation of interpretations here, if it wasn't obvious enough.
My mom and dad took me to the Elwood in Windsor,ont in the late 60's to see this man. I was 15/16. I am forever grateful they exposed me to such beautiful music.
Never mind the reading music statement the man is looking up to the stars when he's playing he's not even looking at the keyboard he knows where everything is. Genius .
My mother was a concert and Jazz pianist in London and Kenya, Africa. She had records of Erroll Garner playing and I loved his piano playing the best, when I was only seven years old. As you say he had a distinct style different from any other. My mother went to the Royal Academy but long before that she always loved Jazz and had had a Birthday Present went she was 13 years old. to have a piano lesson in Jazz from Billy Mayrel. She went on to play concerts of Music from Debussy, Ravel, Beethovan, Schuman and Mozart etc but when she came back from a broken marriage from Berlin to London she began playing for Billy with his troupe of lady pianists. When she was at the Royal Academy of Music, she heard that Art Tatum was coming to London. She arranged for her fellow students to come and hear him at a nightclub in London. They all sat down excited and waited. I imagined it to like that scene in "The Red Shoes" when the hero and his fellow composers are waiting to hear the music, not to see the ballet,- and were shushing everybody. Well, Art Tatum came on and began playing but people continued to talk. Suddenly Art got down from the piano and walked off the stage. ThIs was in early 1930s, when people acted differently. My mother Kay Marjoribanks, went to the manager and asked why Mr Tatum had left the stage. The manager said that Art was not used to people talking while he played. My mother then went backstage and talked to Art Tatum. She said that she was so excited to hear him play and that a whole bunch of Royal Academy of Music students were out there waiting to hear from him. People in London did not realise the conventions of America or of good music, especially in a nightclub. (Paris might have been a lot better). She was well off and she had a car and offered to drive him around London which she did. He came back and played and she arranged for him to play a recital at the Royal Academy itself. For an almost blind, self taught pianist, the reception Academy Main Tutor said he was a brilliant and very gifted musician. In London Art and his wife were quite frightened, as they had not ever been abroad, and of course did not know how they would be received. America was extremely racist then but Paris especially, and London were much more accommodating. My mother followed his work all his life and was influenced by him and Billy Mayrel in her own music.
This is a wonderful story about your mother, who sounds like a truly great person and musician. I'm so glad you shared this with all of us. Just one bone to pick: The part about the Academy Main Tutor deeming Art Tatum "brilliant and very gifted" is quite patronizing, not from you, but from them, even if it was the 1950's. It's also a monumental understatement. Art Tatum was one of the greatest pianists and musicians in music history, regardless of genre. Much more than 'brilliant and/or very gifted'! The Tutor, no doubt white, likely was not all that familiar with America's classical music, Jazz, and without realizing it, I'm sure, comes off as a patronizing know-it-all at worst, and Euro-classical snob at best. A more humble assessment would have been something like this: "I am not qualified to comment on what this man is doing from a musical perspective, me being woefully uninformed about the discipline and courage that must be required to play such difficult music as part of Mr. Tatum's chosen art form, but, clearly, America has produced a musician who's piano playing and arranging skills rival the greatest classical pianists on this planet. And America has produced a genre of music with such harmonic, melodic and rhythmic sophistication and feeling, that, I, and am sure many others at the institution must study this music further! Perhaps Art Tatum could provide some instruction in this regard, and we would like to have him back in a professorial capacity, if he would be so inclined at our most gracious request". Think of the possibilities here! It may have even extended Tatum's life, as America clearly was not good for him. He died at just 47 years old. Nonetheless, I'm glad they saw fit to have Tatum perform for them. A wonderful cultural exchange, to be sure. All praise to your mother for making it happen. She was way ahead of her time!
I agree, Cynthia! I ADORE Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, Art Tatum, George Shearing ... Bud Powell: ALL HONORED POWER TO HIM FOREVERMORE - but Erroll. Erroll Garner is simply: he is: an orchestra, a whole Big Band (his main influence, he acknowledged): unto himself. His SPIRIT! He NEVER talks! He just does that ADORABLE singing to himself: and he PLAYS. That's ALL, y'all. There will NEVER -- not ever, ever - not EVER - be another on this planet, I don't think: EVER: who can do CLOSE to what he did. Thank ALL the gods for him. Always. THANK YOU, ERROLL! -- PS: Y'ALL: HE can play THIS SONG BETTER THAN ANYONE: Because he made it up. (lol: I almost typed: "He wrote it." But. We know who wrote it. A notator, thank heck, who has saved the chart for us.) HE CREATED IT. Thoe MAGNIFICENT harmonic chord changes and melody. So.
O, WOW. Now I read your whole comment (I'm sorry; I hadn't read the whole thing, before). ART TATUM! That is BEYOND WONDERFUL, what your Mom did for Art that time. HOW PEOPLE COULD CHATTER during ART TATUM playing??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! utterly blows my mind. BLOWS IT. BLOWs it UP. - What a thing, Cynthia. What a thing. THANK you for sharing that. People. I can't understand people. AND GEORGE SHARING. That blind, British MARVEL. HE PLAYED SO GORGEOUSLY, too, eh? Born blind. 1 of the top 10 Jazz pianists in the world, I'd say. BUT NO ONE COULD PLAY LIKE ART TATUM. NO ONE. That Right hand of his. - FLYing over the keys; -- --- !!!!!! - And the Left hand, perfectly keeping up! astounding. ASTOUNDING. -- and Marian McPartland! No slouch, either! Thank you so much for this, - VCH & Midlantic Theatre Co., Newark, NJ, USA
If I had one wish right now; I'd like to go back in time and hear this played in some small club in any city. If I had to hide in a corner or behind a curtain, that would be alright.
+Ozzy Gonzalez Liszt had some sick "jazz" chords in his pieces. LOL Listen to his sonata in b minor. I guess it's just the way you call it... Classical Era or jazz music... a Genius still remains Genius. I'm one of those who think that we should not separate music but learn from each other and seek for the things we have in common, the similarities. Jazz is just a name, music is much more than that... and I believe it will always remain like this.
+Ozzy Gonzalez don't know about composer of the romantic era but Arturo Toscanini when in NY personally want to know those monsters of piano..and he did it
What a perfect piece! I’m a classical pianist, but love this piece so much that I get goosebumps, and I can feel the deep and inner feature: love this “arpeggio chords” technique…it feels to me like flying on a soft steam of a cloudy night sky
and if you look closely, you can see drops of sweat running down the sides of his face... of which he seems totally unaware... people in this thread mention "he doesn't look at his hands..." because it's all about TOUCH.. and FEEL ... you can see him tilt his head back, eyes half-closed.. he doesn't need to see anything -- he's feeling it and making us feel it, too :)
@@yung4evr '"... sick ..." A positive, descriptive, colloquialism used to express great appreciation of a skill or an act. Similar to saying such things as, "out of sight"(old school saying), unmatched, unparalleled, exceptional, genius, daaamn!(an extended version of the exclamation of "damn" but used in an appreciative manner). No shade or disrespect intended. Just having fun but not at your expense. Besides you probably know knew it already.
As a guitarist, I watch this and cry. So many simultaneous notes from one person. Effortless, yet this MUST be difficult for any typical pianist. Can any piano players reaffirm? Because he looks like he is doing some otherworldy playing...with such ease...
lotta practice requried and a certain amount of passion, but by on means impossible or even tremendously diffiuclt, anyone really can do it, but what makes it amazing is the passion not really the difficulty level
@@gerryhowe1086 - that is the genius of a genius - it all exists and is formed in the mind first, whether it is ever written down, or not. Written music simply preserves the creative thoughts - it does not create them. All of Bach's masterpieces existed in his mind before they ever existed on paper. The same with Erroll - same genius, different genre.
I've never seen anything else like this in my life ever, he is not looking because the instrument is an extension of his mind, he was a prodigy and got it at age 3, very rare, he is one with it
Carlos A. Bonorino his mind was replaced by another mind infinitely talented for jazz and he was using E.G. body .the mind is working as a radio set device ,it is just as you you shift radio station pointer , you start to listen to another kind of music jazz .
1963, the Tenderloin in San Francisco, standing outside the Blackhawk, listening to this incredible musician playing to a packed house. Not old enough to get in, but even listening on the street was an amazing experience.
Garner had a unique "tool kit" as a pianist due to the fact he didn't know sheet music, theoretical fingering. Sharps and Flats meant nothing too him. He settled into playing in keys that his mind and hands felt most comfortable with. Not straying from the melody too much, he applied massive resources from left-hand in almost orchestral accompaniment playing octave passages as fast as a concert pianist, crossing the beat with his right hand, changing moods from maximum to minimal accent, sliding a semitone into chords with his right hand thumb and little finger, using little musical catch phrases from tunes different to the featured one, using r.h. index finger in a stabbing mode. Also having a great stride left hand solo ability; and finally a really nice mannerism and sense of fun with audiences. Yeah, I discovered him in 1969 and still a huge fan.
Beautifully put. "Massive resources from left hand" is almost an understatement given that many media reports focus on his striking degree of ambidexterity: aside from the piano (obviously), he could also write with both hands and play golf from both sides. Erroll is an inspiration and shows that "dominant hand" is only a limitation of the mind if you are willing to practice things with two hands.
I totally agree. I had the luck to be in two Errol´s concerts in Buenos Aires. First row, of course and after the show I talked with him and recorded my conversation in my small Sony cassette recorder.
Reading all the comments below, makes me realize even more how much I love this man's music. I have his CD's in my car and playing on the radio on continuously. For all of you who wish you could hear him live, I must share that I had the privilege of producing a concert for Erroll at Kent State University in 1965. Not only did I get to meet him, but I got to sit at the piano with him for a few minutes before the concert. Then sat front row for almost two hours of pure heavenly enjoyment. He was pure genius on the piano, and the man that taught me how to play the piano, by me having the opportunity to sit in my parents living room and listen to his vinyl over, and over, and over...and I'm still listening to this day. I miss him terribly!
+Kalim Manigault (iGrungeisntdead10) Harpists just do "glisses"...this guy was doing jazz chords down the fucking piano...this guy is a legend. He doesn't even need to look at the keyboard when he does this.
DocsDota Do.nt be so hostile dude_ there is a recording of Misty by a harpist Dorothy something ( sorry for not recalling her surname) that uses a lot of the arpeggios that we hear in Garner version! Relax dude this is the cool stuff!
Saw him in BIrmingham in the 60’s. A two-handed genius who mesmerised with his performances and professionalism. How his trio knew how his improvisations were going, I have no idea. Sheer brilliance and inspirational. Legend.
I've been listening to Erroll Garner for 40+ years, and to me he is a genius. No other pianist has given me more pleasure. The best pianist that ever lived.
Thanks for posting this historical film of the master playing his own piece just as free as a bird. Wonderful to behold. I play from ear mostly. I was getting the bridge wrong. I was playing a different one. But now I think I've got it. Nothing like getting it firsthand from the composer. What a world!
Misty is my all-time favorite. Love this piece and the way Error Garner plays it is so mesmerizing, effortlessly smooth and flowing. Wow, what a pianist maestro and magician at the keys. Kudos and my utmost admiration. I'll never tire listening to your "Misty". Thanks.
Sempre q posso vejo esta gravacao do Errol Garner, tocando lindamente a cancao Misty, dando um show em todas as etapas de sua interpretacao! Muito lindo!
I came here because someone said that this hip hop remix had the similar melody to this BEAUTIFUL music. It’s a shame that I’ve spent 23 years not knowing this LEGEND! My heart of heart feels in love with music for the first time!
I heard a story that someone criticized Erroll because of his inability to read music.
He responded by saying,"No one comes to watch me read."
Thanks for posting.
Excellent - the response of a real musician! 😀
🎯
@@moochincrawdad And he still learned how to read music.
Perfect answer. Errol Garner was a genius.
I'd rather lose my capacity to read music if someone says me that i could play like him.
His music brought me and my husband together in 1959. Especially Misty, that was our favorite song. We were married fifty years. Misty was so special to us. Thank you, Errol xx
Wow!
That’s beautiful!
Awesome
He's not even lookin at the piano, mad respect to this man.
He just feels the music in his hands and then vibing to his own talent
Tbh once you do a song enough time its easy...but this...this is art
What piano? It's like he's dreaming. I wonder what he could possibly be thinking about while he's playing?
the keys are just an extension of his fingers.
almost as good as stevie wonder
Erroll defines "tickling the ivories."
Yes, he does! Well put, Michael.
Three interesting facts about Garner: (1) He composed this beautiful creation, Misty. (2) He was only 5 feet 2 inches tall. (3) He never learned to read music and composed Misty using a dictaphone, getting friends to transcribe it later into a musical score.
I have heard him say that he came up with Misty in 30 minutes
@@TheBigDaddy51 if that’s true than it only further confirms his genius. God bless him.
What makes his height interesting?
@@xxcrump2640 he looks way taller on video, so knowing he was only 5’2 is kind of interesting I guess
Not too bad. I'm only a 5'4" male. At 72 I can kinda-sorta do (kinda-sorta) do what the man does. We short guys work harder I guess.
Dean
Seattle
Jazz Alley
Even in the cheap seats his music makes me feel like a millionaire.
Now that's a compliment!!
MrLive2win Great comment. That comment had me smiling ear to ear.
That’s the beauty of it
Grazia bene
Most poetic and succinct compliment I've ever read on youtube. Bravo!
If I lived to be a million years old, I still couldn't play the piano like that. Something special going on here.
nah you probably could
@@user-lb4ew7gr2j Idon’t know man, erroll is born with a certain feeling in his hands that can never be achieved by any experience level whatsoever. It’s just his genetic advantage of mobility.
@@l3gendbaap963 and at one point he couldn't play at all; taking what he said literally a million years is more than enough time as long as you're actively learning
who is living a million years?
@@googlem7 nobody needs to, there are already better players
Nobody, absolutely nobody can play ‘Misty’ as brilliantly as the master genious himself.
.
he's using too many arpeggios
@@Youdidnthearme🤠
Most good pianist can play without looking at there fingers - most of the time. After a while you just know where the keys are. I know because I play piano also - absolutely no where as great as he can. But as I said, if you practice enough you really get to know the keyboard.
Yes, I’m aware that a brilliant pianist doesn’t have to look at his fingers or the keybord. But Erroll even turns his head often and looks away while playing at high speed.
I named my beloved daughter "Misty" after this song
Gotta catch em all
@@sumrandomdude379 bruh..😂😂totally destroyed my romantic mood
Legend has it she grew up to become a great water trainer.
@@thevisitor1012 lmao
@@sumrandomdude379 BAODNWOD
There are no hands- there are butterflies flying over the piano.
magic
That's what happens when you have passion for what you do. At that point, you don't even have to worry about things like that, it just comes naturally.
You made me chuckle but you are right 😀
yeah
Ein Zauberer...😍
When I was 14, my mother bought me Andre Previn and Oscar Peterson albums, then I was hooked on jazz piano. Then followed Erroll and Bill Evans. I have played "Misty" on the piano since I was about 10 years old, about 60 years! "Misty" is one of the greatest love ballads of all time!
Agree!
It is interesting to note that all three of these pianists you mentioned are naturally born as left-handed.
@Wes McGee Clint Eastwood, Jessica Walter in Play Misty For Me. I put that movie with Hitchcocks's Psycho as two great, disturbing thrillers that hit the big screen. I have yet since either was released, ever to watched them again,lol.
You are so right about 'Misty', but Erroll Garner's splendid introductions sold me on his performance skills from the first few notes - he invites interest by invention.
@@vinyltapelover I was eating at a restaurant in Monterey once wondering why it looked so deja vu familiar and the waiter said "Did you ever see Play Misty for Me?" Classic movie and classic song - so many great versions it's nice to see Garner do it.
Wow. He's clearly from another planet. Jaw-dropping.
This guy is looking everywhere, but the piano. Mindblowing excellence.
He loves his piano as he loves Misty....by heart...
Looking at it only helps the beginners
@@xxcrump3297 Actually the reason he isn't looking at the piano is because he was blind. He was playing by touch, just like Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder.
@@mgconlan what kind of animals made an idiot like you?
@@mgconlan Clearly, you know nothing about history!
How is this man not more worldly recognized. He has such a beautiful and unique style in approaching jazz piano with his left hand swinging rhythm section accompanied by the right hand octave melody lines. Erroll was living proof that jazz is one of the greatest art forms. This video deserves 7 billion views.
こまづわんし
Jazz piano? Man, this sound like Debussy or Ravel composition.
Don't be ridiculous... This is racism and alienation.
Ricardo da Mata It is not racism. It is fact. You probably never heard of Debussy or Ravel compositions?
I always thought Errol Garner was pretty recognised in music... always mentioned in classical and jazz circles, particularly in his day. I just heard something about him in a doc about the evolution of jazz recently ...
He did not read music instead He make the piano read His mind. Genius ! ! !
Here after being introduced by adam neely. I can't believe this is the first time i'm hearing this master play.
same xd
better late than never :D
I heard of Erroll 7 years ago, and I always find myself coming back. 😎 .. so I’ll see you soon. Lol
No kidding . Simply fabulous!! What a gifted man!!
Be sure to check out "35 minutes of Erroll Garner" also on YT. Has a lot of his jauntier style which is equally great.
Dear God, can we please have music like this again. What genius. Playing be ear.
Actually, composing as he went along. It's his song!
MARAVILLOSO ‼️😄
At my family's Bar and Restaurant in NYC he was playing in our bar, I sat at the bar listening, sometimes hiding behind the jukebox because I was not allowed in, he played a few nights a week for years and I didnt know what I was hearing...I play Jazz guitar now and boy do I know how lucky I was
it is amazing and great!
OMG really?¡¡¡¡
Free Palestine
Where,'s the Bar?
what bar is that?
Dude that line at 2:40 was freakin insane. So much creativity in the line itself, but he puts these beautiful chords behind such a well constructed melody. What a line. 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻🤤🤤🥵😩
Hello friends, i hope that you like this Misty Version in piano th-cam.com/video/Qp-dicJUtmY/w-d-xo.html
the brutality in that line is insane like how am I supposed to do that too?
@@opp0site practice
Hahah he did the end of the lick at the end of the line (D# to E to C to D).
'block chords'. Garner was a master at playing the line in octaves in the right hand, with harmony notes filling in the chord. He could use grace notes on the top or even with the thumb and you can hear how gorgeous his tremolo was, splitting the block into two halves. Other pianists used different block chord styles
He plays the piano like a harp. So beautiful
He's so underrated. You know a man's got talent when he doesn't have to look at the keys or sheet.
I'm thinking it might just be best if we never look at our hands and "just go with it" as the late Deems Tsutakawa said to me a few years ago during his break at Jazz Alley here in Seattle.
He couldn’t read sheet music anyways 😂 he was just that talented that he didn’t rely on sheet music but on some savant level sense of how the piano and harmony works
Hello friends, i hope that you like this Misty Version in piano th-cam.com/video/Qp-dicJUtmY/w-d-xo.html
Who's underrating his talent other then you? Another thing i must say looking at the instrument that you play doesn't make you master it any better.
@@konarkvinod2801 Erroll Garner once said people don't come to see me read music.
WHEN THE GREAT ERROLL PLAYS--THERE IS ONE THING FOR SURE--ONE HAND A'INT WORRIED ABOUT WHAT THE OTHER HAND IS DOING!
Moonlightin vermont
Moonlight inVermont by erroll garner
I just discovered Errol and now I am obsessed with genius at piano . So beautiful and mesmerizing. I am sure he is playing in heaven .
Hope u like Joe sample, (the crusaders)another key board great.
Still gets me to have tears in my eyes what a genius he was!
Stop your weeping and be a man💪
Tears in my eyes too !
It's ok you're a girl😌
Erroll Garner is the King of improvisation, composing, uttering, executing , arranging anything without previous preparation and without the ability to read music. Total genius. RIP
An elderly friend told me of her husband who played the piano in Madison square gardens during the war, whilst playing Misty a gentleman stood behind him listening, when finished the gentleman complemented him on his playing in his words 'never have I heard this song played so perfect with such feeling' he thanked the gentleman and asked his name ? the gentleman replied .... Erroll Garner I wrote it sir ! :)
The greatest possible compliment.
"The war" could not have been WW2, because Misty was composed in 1954.
Peggy Moore ko
There has always been war,
Bravo Dear Mr Gardner, i fell in love to this song
Peggy Moore Wow what a story!
Peggy Moore WOW! You just gave me goosebumps all over! What a wonderful compliment! Thank you!
That finger roll he did with the left hand @ 1:06 was SIICK! He did it very quick but it adds such a nice sound and layers to this masterpiece.
Yes! It's called an arpeggio and it's absolutely beautiful.
My mom's favorite piano player, Errol Garner. What great control and touch. Mom loved Errol's big, blasting chords and fabulous style. Don't we all. What a gift to America. RIP Errol Garner.
This genius wrote the song and plays it like no other. Beautiful.
+sunlitweb Wow
YankeeClippa Yes, he was a musical genius. He wrote it, so that's why he plays it with such style. He knows every perfectly placed note. Another person wrote the lyrics. Together they crerated one of the finest love songs of all time.
+sunlitweb apparently on a train journey to a gig.genius for sure.many thanks.
Hello friends, i hope that you like this Misty Version in piano th-cam.com/video/Qp-dicJUtmY/w-d-xo.html
If Erroll Garner had had the finest musical education, and learned the intricasies of musical scoring from the best in the country he would not have played any better. His genius rose above learning by rote - he simply mastered the instrument and let his magical emotional depth flow through his fingers onto the right keys. What wonderful interpretations he gave us.
Interpretations? If you are referring to the song "Misty", he didn't interpret it, he wrote it. If that isn't what you meant, then disregard my comment.
Gary Rice interpretations in context would mean his style or his methods of playing here, also what hes playing too. it's not the actual denotation of interpretations here, if it wasn't obvious enough.
+John Perks Just like Wes Montgomery.
+J'Dinklage Morgoone Yes, you've certainly had it, mate. Big time.
+EgyptianMinor Yes, and many others, chum.
My mom and dad took me to the Elwood in Windsor,ont in the late 60's to see this man. I was 15/16. I am forever grateful they exposed me to such beautiful music.
Never mind the reading music statement the man is looking up to the stars when he's playing he's not even looking at the keyboard he knows where everything is. Genius .
He's so happy
Hello friends, i hope that you like this Misty Version in piano th-cam.com/video/Qp-dicJUtmY/w-d-xo.html
My mother was a concert and Jazz pianist in London and Kenya, Africa. She had records of Erroll Garner playing and I loved his piano playing the best, when I was only seven years old. As you say he had a distinct style different from any other. My mother went to the Royal Academy but long before that she always loved Jazz and had had a Birthday Present went she was 13 years old. to have a piano lesson in Jazz from Billy Mayrel. She went on to play concerts of Music from Debussy, Ravel, Beethovan, Schuman and Mozart etc but when she came back from a broken marriage from Berlin to London she began playing for Billy with his troupe of lady pianists. When she was at the Royal Academy of Music, she heard that Art Tatum was coming to London. She arranged for her fellow students to come and hear him at a nightclub in London. They all sat down excited and waited. I imagined it to like that scene in "The Red Shoes" when the hero and his fellow composers are waiting to hear the music, not to see the ballet,- and were shushing everybody. Well, Art Tatum came on and began playing but people continued to talk. Suddenly Art got down from the piano and walked off the stage. ThIs was in early 1930s, when people acted differently. My mother Kay Marjoribanks, went to the manager and asked why Mr Tatum had left the stage. The manager said that Art was not used to people talking while he played. My mother then went backstage and talked to Art Tatum. She said that she was so excited to hear him play and that a whole bunch of Royal Academy of Music students were out there waiting to hear from him. People in London did not realise the conventions of America or of good music, especially in a nightclub. (Paris might have been a lot better). She was well off and she had a car and offered to drive him around London which she did. He came back and played and she arranged for him to play a recital at the Royal Academy itself. For an almost blind, self taught pianist, the reception Academy Main Tutor said he was a brilliant and very gifted musician. In London Art and his wife were quite frightened, as they had not ever been abroad, and of course did not know how they would be received. America was extremely racist then but Paris especially, and London were much more accommodating. My mother followed his work all his life and was influenced by him and Billy Mayrel in her own music.
This is a wonderful story about your mother, who sounds like a truly great person and musician. I'm so glad you shared this with all of us.
Just one bone to pick: The part about the Academy Main Tutor deeming Art Tatum "brilliant and very gifted" is quite patronizing, not from you, but from them, even if it was the 1950's. It's also a monumental understatement. Art Tatum was one of the greatest pianists and musicians in music history, regardless of genre. Much more than 'brilliant and/or very gifted'! The Tutor, no doubt white, likely was not all that familiar with America's classical music, Jazz, and without realizing it, I'm sure, comes off as a patronizing know-it-all at worst, and Euro-classical snob at best. A more humble assessment would have been something like this: "I am not qualified to comment on what this man is doing from a musical perspective, me being woefully uninformed about the discipline and courage that must be required to play such difficult music as part of Mr. Tatum's chosen art form, but, clearly, America has produced a musician who's piano playing and arranging skills rival the greatest classical pianists on this planet. And America has produced a genre of music with such harmonic, melodic and rhythmic sophistication and feeling, that, I, and am sure many others at the institution must study this music further! Perhaps Art Tatum could provide some instruction in this regard, and we would like to have him back in a professorial capacity, if he would be so inclined at our most gracious request". Think of the possibilities here! It may have even extended Tatum's life, as America clearly was not good for him. He died at just 47 years old.
Nonetheless, I'm glad they saw fit to have Tatum perform for them. A wonderful cultural exchange, to be sure. All praise to your mother for making it happen. She was way ahead of her time!
wow, what an amazing story. thank you for sharing that.
Thanks for sharing this. I enjoyed reading.
I agree, Cynthia! I ADORE Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, Art Tatum, George Shearing ... Bud Powell: ALL HONORED POWER TO HIM FOREVERMORE - but Erroll. Erroll Garner is simply: he is: an orchestra, a whole Big Band (his main influence, he acknowledged): unto himself. His SPIRIT! He NEVER talks! He just does that ADORABLE singing to himself: and he PLAYS. That's ALL, y'all. There will NEVER -- not ever, ever - not EVER - be another on this planet, I don't think: EVER: who can do CLOSE to what he did. Thank ALL the gods for him. Always. THANK YOU, ERROLL! -- PS: Y'ALL: HE can play THIS SONG BETTER THAN ANYONE: Because he made it up. (lol: I almost typed: "He wrote it." But. We know who wrote it. A notator, thank heck, who has saved the chart for us.) HE CREATED IT. Thoe MAGNIFICENT harmonic chord changes and melody. So.
O, WOW. Now I read your whole comment (I'm sorry; I hadn't read the whole thing, before). ART TATUM! That is BEYOND WONDERFUL, what your Mom did for Art that time. HOW PEOPLE COULD CHATTER during ART TATUM playing??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! utterly blows my mind. BLOWS IT. BLOWs it UP. - What a thing, Cynthia. What a thing. THANK you for sharing that. People. I can't understand people. AND GEORGE SHARING. That blind, British MARVEL. HE PLAYED SO GORGEOUSLY, too, eh? Born blind. 1 of the top 10 Jazz pianists in the world, I'd say. BUT NO ONE COULD PLAY LIKE ART TATUM. NO ONE. That Right hand of his. - FLYing over the keys; -- --- !!!!!! - And the Left hand, perfectly keeping up! astounding. ASTOUNDING. -- and Marian McPartland! No slouch, either! Thank you so much for this, - VCH & Midlantic Theatre Co., Newark, NJ, USA
like putting on some lotion on your soul when its ashy.
Excellent definition for Misty!!!
Pieter Vogt hahaha!
Whoa. That's beautiful. It's so incredibly fitting for this.
got it.
I Agree
His hair is WAY COOL, and his playing is beyond compare! What a gifted artist.
Thinking the same here. Dapper Dan, Old Spice or Clubman pomade? 👌
its like he's in his own world. its honestly so mesmerising to just watch him play
Bob acri , sleep wey
If I had one wish right now; I'd like to go back in time and hear this played in some small club in any city. If I had to hide in a corner or behind a curtain, that would be alright.
I'm only 14, and I appreciate music like this :), I'd love for there to be a place where they played music from over a decade ago
Fantastisch heerlijke muziek.
louise verwaaijen Ja, was er hat gesagt!
m3tafunj You doubt me?
why would you have to hide?
I've always wondered what the great composers of the Romantic Era would've think of jazz pianists.
+Ozzy Gonzalez Liszt had some sick "jazz" chords in his pieces. LOL Listen to his sonata in b minor.
I guess it's just the way you call it... Classical Era or jazz music... a Genius still remains Genius. I'm one of those who think that we should not separate music but learn from each other and seek for the things we have in common, the similarities. Jazz is just a name, music is much more than that... and I believe it will always remain like this.
+Profiledek Amazingly well said. I agree with you completely.
Ana Špan Thank you :) That really means a lot to me, as English is not my first language - I'm glad to "hear" that :)
+Ozzy Gonzalez don't know about composer of the romantic era but Arturo Toscanini when in NY personally want to know those monsters of piano..and he did it
+Jim FitzGerald illiteracy or sarcasm ?
What a perfect piece! I’m a classical pianist, but love this piece so much that I get goosebumps, and I can feel the deep and inner feature: love this “arpeggio chords” technique…it feels to me like flying on a soft steam of a cloudy night sky
his connection to the piano is so unquestionable-you can't see any kind of separation or hesitation.. just unbelievable!
This is luxury, provided by a king.
And he doesn't make any mistakes. The second important thing. Technical possibilities of his fingers simply amazes me.
Jack ....Thanks!!
and if you look closely, you can see drops of sweat running down the sides of his face... of which he seems totally unaware... people in this thread mention "he doesn't look at his hands..." because it's all about TOUCH.. and FEEL ... you can see him tilt his head back, eyes half-closed.. he doesn't need to see anything -- he's feeling it and making us feel it, too :)
Fantastic!
Errol @
Sick how easy he makes that look!
Favoloso!!!!
If you look at his pink fingers and slow it down.. it makes sense .
You don't think of which note comes next, but play like you were a wave in the ocean.
Whats sick about it??
@@yung4evr '"... sick ..." A positive, descriptive, colloquialism used to express great appreciation of a skill or an act. Similar to saying such things as, "out of sight"(old school saying), unmatched, unparalleled, exceptional, genius, daaamn!(an extended version of the exclamation of "damn" but used in an appreciative manner). No shade or disrespect intended. Just having fun but not at your expense. Besides you probably know knew it already.
As a guitarist, I watch this and cry. So many simultaneous notes from one person. Effortless, yet this MUST be difficult for any typical pianist. Can any piano players reaffirm? Because he looks like he is doing some otherworldy playing...with such ease...
Yeah its absolutely insane
lotta practice requried and a certain amount of passion, but by on means impossible or even tremendously diffiuclt, anyone really can do it, but what makes it amazing is the passion not really the difficulty level
to me what makes it so incredibly difficult in practice is that he wrote it himself, without ever learning to read music. absolutely unreal artist
@@gerryhowe1086 - that is the genius of a genius - it all exists and is formed in the mind first, whether it is ever written down, or not. Written music simply preserves the creative thoughts - it does not create them. All of Bach's masterpieces existed in his mind before they ever existed on paper. The same with Erroll - same genius, different genre.
Esta que pe'ano dos la excelente del sol cerebro
Wonderful piece about him in today’s Wall Street Journal brought me here. Amazing musician.
Same here. Wonderful article. Wonderful musician.
After celebrating 75 years at the piano, I have to say that EG is a keyboard genius - such technique, such imagination!
Such a gift from God!!!!
I've never seen anything else like this in my life ever, he is not looking because the instrument is an extension of his mind, he was a prodigy and got it at age 3, very rare, he is one with it
ABSOLUTE GENIUS
Eh Dislikes, E muita inveja de quem tem talento hein???????
@@conceicaocampos6573 I agree with you👍.
His compsition and his playing ...both amazing and beautiful..what a talent
Marvelous! His hands flies over the keyboard.
Carlos A. Bonorino his mind was replaced by another mind infinitely talented for jazz and he was using E.G. body .the mind is working as a radio set device ,it is just as you you shift radio station pointer , you start to listen to another kind of music jazz .
FENOMENALE!!!!!!!!
He sounds like a one man orchestra. This is breath taking in its scope and scale.
Hello friends, i hope that you like this Misty Version in piano th-cam.com/video/Qp-dicJUtmY/w-d-xo.html
Amazing how I just happened to see a movie called “Play Misty fir me” with Clint Eastwood and learned about this extraordinary musician.
If you ever get someone calling you and say, Play Misty For Me, run for the hills!
1963, the Tenderloin in San Francisco, standing outside the Blackhawk, listening to this incredible musician playing to a packed house. Not old enough to get in, but even listening on the street was an amazing experience.
This helps me cope with this messed up life.
Amen to that Darth! ;)
especially you want a goodnight sleep and feel refresh,it's one of the tops.Nobody composes like this song anymore.Too much noise i hear nowadays.
even the Johnny Mathis version is quite good.... ;)
The most flowing and fulfilling version by any pianist, effortless.
Garner had a unique "tool kit" as a pianist due to the fact he didn't know sheet music, theoretical fingering. Sharps and Flats meant nothing too him. He settled into playing in keys that his mind and hands felt most comfortable with. Not straying from the melody too much, he applied massive resources from left-hand in almost orchestral accompaniment playing octave passages as fast as a concert pianist, crossing the beat with his right hand, changing moods from maximum to minimal accent, sliding a semitone into chords with his right hand thumb and little finger, using little musical catch phrases from tunes different to the featured one, using r.h. index finger in a stabbing mode. Also having a great stride left hand solo ability; and finally a really nice mannerism and sense of fun with audiences. Yeah, I discovered him in 1969 and still a huge fan.
Beautifully put. "Massive resources from left hand" is almost an understatement given that many media reports focus on his striking degree of ambidexterity: aside from the piano (obviously), he could also write with both hands and play golf from both sides. Erroll is an inspiration and shows that "dominant hand" is only a limitation of the mind if you are willing to practice things with two hands.
Well put Pianist in Straffordshire. However, his mind and every single note and the piano were just one.
He sure was one of a kind in piano jazz. Swinging like crazy.
He makes piano playing look like an easy thing to do. He's so in control. What a talent!
I just became a huge Erroll Garner fan!!! this is most superb!!!!
I know pretty sure what God said, welcoming Erroll in paradise, when he died: "Play Misty to me!"
No doubt!
bien trouvé !
excellent
I totally agree. I had the luck to be in two Errol´s concerts in Buenos Aires. First row, of course and after the show I talked with him and recorded my conversation in my small Sony cassette recorder.
Carlos A. Bonorino
He is such a gift! I just love listening to him. I can have a bad day and when I hear him play, everything is a little better.
Those hands are absolutely magical! Errol becomes part of the piano.
The best pianist the world has ever seen....period!
Hello friends, i hope that you like this Misty Version in piano th-cam.com/video/Qp-dicJUtmY/w-d-xo.html
Phenomenal! Erroll was my dad's favorite pianist and I remember his records in the 60's. Self taught, just amazing.
Errol self taught thats inspiring...
that hair shines brighter than my future.
What a performance. There is a casual gracefulness to the way he plays the keys.
Reading all the comments below, makes me realize even more how much I love this man's music. I have his CD's in my car and playing on the radio on continuously. For all of you who wish you could hear him live, I must share that I had the privilege of producing a concert for Erroll at Kent State University in 1965. Not only did I get to meet him, but I got to sit at the piano with him for a few minutes before the concert. Then sat front row for almost two hours of pure heavenly enjoyment. He was pure genius on the piano, and the man that taught me how to play the piano, by me having the opportunity to sit in my parents living room and listen to his vinyl over, and over, and over...and I'm still listening to this day. I miss him terribly!
Please sir share that masterpiece with us. Thanks in advance
It's like it was written for a harpist
+Kalim Manigault (iGrungeisntdead10) Harpists just do "glisses"...this guy was doing jazz chords down the fucking piano...this guy is a legend. He doesn't even need to look at the keyboard when he does this.
Because it was...
th-cam.com/video/ySgvHthGmbc/w-d-xo.html
He wrote it
DocsDota Do.nt be so hostile dude_ there is a recording of Misty by a harpist Dorothy something ( sorry for not recalling her surname) that uses a lot of the arpeggios that we hear in Garner version! Relax dude this is the cool stuff!
He does play like a harpest
A beautiful song, played as only Errol could. His marvellous CD Concert by the Sea has moved me deeply for more than sixty years.
I couldn't have made it without this most beautiful song ever. You were/are heavenly Erroll.
He’s not even looking at the piano, it’s still excellent
Music is the universal language of mankind...with that said, Erroll your playing never gets old!
This man plays from his heart which is even biigger than that piano! What a joy to listen to him play!
Saw him in BIrmingham in the 60’s. A two-handed genius who mesmerised with his performances and professionalism. How his trio knew how his improvisations were going, I have no idea. Sheer brilliance and inspirational. Legend.
Damn! I always suspected I never had any real talent, and now this performance confirms it.
You give up too easily.
Just enjoy music and life.
John Sheehan Dont insult
He is making that piano TALK!
I've been listening to Erroll Garner for 40+ years, and to me he is a genius.
No other pianist has given me more pleasure.
The best pianist that ever lived.
Thanks for posting this historical film of the master playing his own piece just as free as a bird. Wonderful to behold.
I play from ear mostly. I was getting the bridge wrong. I was playing a different one. But now I think I've got it. Nothing like getting it firsthand from the composer. What a world!
This is an example of mastering music to such a degree that you can have fun with it at any time any place any tempo ect.
Fortunate to have seen him in concert when I was 17 or 18. Beautiful music, then and now....
Thank GOD that we have these wonderful recordings. may they survive forever.
So Gooood. I haven't heard it for many years. I heard a version where Errol grunts some while he is playing, loved it.
Erroll truly plays the piano like a percussion instrument. blows my mind every time.
buzz kirschner The piano IS a percussion instrument.
i always tell my students that the piano IS a percussion instrument, but even more.
Doug Delaney You're telling the TRUTH to them!
Spectacular. Much respect to Erroll Garner. The introduction in this version is phenomenal!!! An incredible performance indeed.
So beautiful it brought tears to my eyes.
So grateful that this was recorded (and subsequently digitized). Beautiful
This cat was super outstanding. He made it look like child's play. I love the groove he carried and the smile on his face. What a performer !!
You can see on his face how he enjoyed playing, hearing, people.
God his feel is so crazy, everything is so intentional. So beautiful it makes me want to cry.
I could watch him play all day! I love the way he plays it he makes it look so effortless 🤩😭
Misty is my all-time favorite. Love this piece and the way Error Garner plays it is so mesmerizing, effortlessly smooth and flowing. Wow, what a pianist maestro and magician at the keys. Kudos and my utmost admiration. I'll never tire listening to your "Misty". Thanks.
Musique luxueuse , magique , un immense standard du jazz......quant à Erroll.....c'est un maître !
I've never been so in awe of someone's talent as I am of Mr. Garner's. My all time favorite piano player by far!
So incredible! To be able to watch and hear this magic!
Sempre q posso vejo esta gravacao do Errol Garner, tocando lindamente a cancao Misty, dando um show em todas as etapas de sua interpretacao! Muito lindo!
Masters like Erroll make it look So easy X He left us too early but lives on Im glad to say.
The hands of angel !!! Making it look so easy yet complex....that was Errol Gamer.
His Command Of The Keyboard Together With His Melodic Interpretations On Any Given Score Is Breathtaking, Timeless, And Wondrous...🤔
this was absolutely beautiful to listen to and I’m just happy that I stumbled upon it
I came here because someone said that this hip hop remix had the similar melody to this BEAUTIFUL music.
It’s a shame that I’ve spent 23 years not knowing this LEGEND! My heart of heart feels in love with music for the first time!
Just watched a documentary on the great songwriter and pianist. Oh my God! Brilliant. Thank you, Mr Garner
Could I kbow what is the name?
It's wonderful being able to watch this superb magical musician play his creation.
Wow. It’s like 80 degrees in my house and his playing gives me literal chills!
You can't afford an air-conditioning unit?
This is the ultimate Mysty, all those covers are just following Errol Garner's feeling.