Music played and composed by a true musician! All he ever "needed" was a piano!

...and a bass player and a drummer.

Seriously, he was a very talented piano player for sure, as well as an accomplished composer.

I used to play this piece quite often on solo digital piano as a special request for the restaurant owner and his wife. He wanted it played "no frills" and I really enjoyed playing it sans arranger accompaniment.

This piece also worked well on my old D-85 Electone organ, using bass pedals and a simple drum accompaniment.

Garner was most definitely a class act.

Ian

A class act indeed, but those additional instruments, especially the bass, make a huge difference in the presentation of the song.

Keep in mind that Willie Nelson is probably among the most talented composer/song writers on the planet, but he's probably only an average musician when it comes to guitar playing and piano playing. Without his drummer, bass player, steel player, etc..., those songs would not have gone very far. IMO, the same scenario holds true for an arranger keyboard. What makes us so popular is we essentially incorporate a 5-piece band with every song we perform. It's not just us with a guitar in our hands, or a piano at our fingertips. Sure, we can still entertain folks using a single instrument, but I believe that when using a single instrument, we tend to loose our ability to diversify, and diversity is what an arranger provides more than any single instrument. I can do a great job playing and singing Misty, and when that song ends, I can hit a single button, and a half second later be performing Old Time Rock & Roll. Even Jerry Lee had a backup band.

Cheers,

Gary

HOW ARE YOU, Taike? Just looked yesterday at the photo of my little "adopted" family. Imagine little man is really bigger.

How's the new arranger? I'm on deadline, so I'll get back, but I met Garner in the early 60's when he appeared on the Steve Allen show. Johnny Mathis, who was scheduled that night introduced us.

Man. I've been lucky.


Talk to you soon...


Russ

Hi Taike:

I listened yesterday but did not have time to reply. Garner was the "real deal" and was certainly no slouch on vibes, as well.

Thanks for sharing this little piece of Heaven with us. On top of being a talent... he was a great performer and had such a grasp of keeping the audience right there with him.

Regards,

Dave Rice

.........and then Garner said to Steve Allen. "Yea I know Russ, but I can't remember the name of that guy that introduced us."

Jerryghr

I just made the time to watch this, although I can't count the number of times I've listened to EG's "Misty" ... and if HE can't play the song, who can - after all he WROTE it !!!
Errol and Oscar - two of the GREATEST !!!

And personally, I don't think the bass and drums added all that much to the arrangement ... JMHO ...

I tend to agree with Tony...the bass and drums didn't add all that much to that particular arrangement...but, they were there none the less...I was hoping that Garner would have played it totally solo.

On the subject of bass and drums in an arrangement, I could listen to a piece played without drums (and just the added bass) but not to one without the bass (and just drums with the solo instrument).

Bass, to me, adds that "foundation" (literally) and movement to a tune better than drums only, even with a good kick drum, mainly because the latter doesn't actually play other notes other than what the bass drum is tuned to.

Ian

I couldn't find a version of him playing it solo ...

Ian, I agree about the bass alone vs. drums alone ... I think the drums alone only works if the pianist has a strong left hand ...

Way too deep for me - I'm not all that bright, ya know!