Customer Reviews
Erroll (The Elf) Garner at his very best. - By: Mr. Kenneth J. Hodges, 23 Dec 2007 
Distinctive to the point of being instantly recognisable, that's Errol Garner, & here he is, caughtin full flight at the very peak of his powers, & 'live' too. There have been many concert recordings succesfully transferred to disc, making one realise that it would have been a memorable treat to have beenin the audience, & what we have here is no exception. Erroll was a natural, & supposedly couldn't read a note of music. When you can play like this, you dont need to. Anyone who wants just one of Erroll's recordings wont do better than this. Anyone alive out there, who wasin the audience the night this was reccorded??
Errol Garner's Jazz - By: S J Buck, 16 Aug 2007 Errol Garner is almost uniquein Jazz historyin the way that he created a new style of playing his instrument, the Piano, which made him very successful (for a Jazz artist) but hardly any other musicians have copied his style. In fact there is only one other Pianist that I know of that conciously learnt to playin the style of Errol Garner & that was Dudley Moore (and he did it very well). There are a number of reasons for this, which would take too long to explainin a short album review.
On this fabulous live album from September 1955 Garner is accompanied by Eddie Calhoun on bass & Denzil Best on Drums. As with all Garner recordings there are his inspired Piano introductions to tunes, that really give you absolutely no clue as to what is coming next, but when the tune starts it all seem entirely logical.
Garner was wholly self-taught, so how on earth he managed to play at the virtuoso standard required on say 'Red Top' or 'I'll Remember April' is truly amazing. The key to his playing is the left-hand which is squarely on the beat, & 4 to the bar on the uptempo numbers, almost like a strumming guitarist - think Freddie Green from the Basie Orchestra. His right hand lagged behind the beat, or phrased around the beat which creates the dramatic style you can hear so well on this album.
I'm less keen on his ballad playing, its a little too florid for my taste, but its still fabulous, just not as fabulous as his uptempo playing which is as exciting as almost anythingelse you can hearin the history of Jazz.
Erroll Garner's 'Concert By The Sea' - The legend's musical masterpiece..... - By: Stephen Wright, 01 Aug 2006 If I were asked to compile a list my all-time favourite albums this would bein the top five, & it wouldn't be a short list! Recorded almost a year to the day after I was born, it is difficult to put into words what this album means to me. My Dad had an old Telefunken radiogram & a limited number of albums to play, but even though my age was stillin single figures, somehow I quickly became mesmerised by the truly unique Garner style. The first copy we had was on the Philips label, but it wasn't until many years later when I bought a replacement copy on CBS (Sony) that I realised that great lumps of the original recording had been edited out, so much so that on playing the replacement copy for the first time, I thought that extra tracks had been added, only to find that these were the original off-the-wall & rambling intro's that Garner is quite rightly famed for. I don't understand how or why they work, they just do!
About ten years ago I purchased the CD, & I am pleased to say that this album is still as thrilling a listen today as it wasin my very early days of listening. This great man can go from melancholy to majesticin four bars, & make goosepimples come up on my arms & the hair on the back of my neck stand up barely a moment after his fingers have touched the keyboard.
Aside from this, generally speaking I don't like live albums, but this is the exception to the rule. Forget the slightly poor recording quality, (It is fifty plus years old after all!), the background interruptions & coughing from the audience plus Garner's own grunts & humming that accompany a great deal of the recording, this is one hell of an album & one that I can truly say that I would be lost without.
The musicianship on this album is superb, the interaction between Garner, the audience & his fellow musicians magnificent & the atmosphere electric. You only have to listen to the reaction of the audience to realise that we are witnessing something very special. Lie back & enjoy a sprightly & intriguing selection of tunes from a jazz master at the very peak of his career on this truly magical album.
Very highly recommended.
Garner at his best - a true genius - By: , 27 Nov 2005 I orginally just gave this CD a cursory listen, not expecting anything special, however I was blown away & just had to keep on listening & listening.
Garner had an unbeliveable talent, both for his instrument, & the art of performance. He uses an endless variety of styles that he seamlessly flits between mid solo, from puncuating staccato of individual notes to full on orchestral rolling chords. He is truely a showman of the highest order as well, constantly generating interest & dramain the music, & creating a huge sense of fun.
The recording quality is a bit dodgy, but this is quickly forgotten when listening. His other major album 'Contrasts' is also excellent, though notin quite the same league as this legendary concert.
This represents Errol Garner at the heigth of his career. - By: dandiwilk@aol.com, 06 Oct 2001 
This is a must have for any lover of Errol Garner, jazz piano or great popular music.
Here we have Garner swingingin his own inimitable style with a live audience & both loving every minute of it.
Classics such as "Aprilin Paris", "Its all right with me" & "Teach me Tonight" are given the rolling, two handed piano treatment & demonstrate Garners ability to take good music & make it even better.
I defy anyone to listen to this CD & not end up tapping their feet, whistleing the tune & generally feeling that they have heard one of the greatest interpretors of popular music ever born.
