Erroll Garner, Ready Take One (Octave/Legacy)
Legacy follows the expanded reissue of Garner’s monumental Concert By The Sea with fourteen previously unissued studio tracks. Recorded in the late 1960s and 1971, they find the pianist radiating his customary ebullience at the keyboard and in exchanges with Martha Glaser, the manager who guided his career. From rhapsodic to rhythmic in his classic “Misty,†he makes it unlike any of his other recorded versions of the piece. Leading into a “Stella By Starlight†that is both lyrical and powerful we hear Glaser say from the booth, titularly, “Ready? Take One.†Highlights include “Down Wylie Avenue, an emphatic “I Got Rhythm†contrafact named for a major street in Garner’s native Pittsburgh. Sidemen on most tracks are Garner veterans Ike Isaacs, bass; Jimmie Smith, drums; and Jose Mangual congas. Fresh Garner, including six “new†compositions—an unexpected treat, beautifully recorded.