Jimmy Garrison
Encyclopedia
Jimmy Garrison was an American
jazz
double bassist born in Miami, Florida
. He was best known through his long association with John Coltrane
from 1961–1967.
. The long trio blues "Chasin' the Trane" is probably his first recorded performance with Coltrane and Elvin Jones
. Garrison appeared on many classic Coltrane recordings, including A Love Supreme
. In concert with Coltrane, Garrison would often play unaccompanied improvised solo
s, sometimes as the prelude
to a song before the other musicians joined in.
Garrison also had a long association with Ornette Coleman
, first recording with him on Ornette on Tenor and Art of the Improvisers. He and drummer Elvin Jones
have been credited with eliciting more forceful playing than usual from Coleman on the albums New York is Now and Love Call.
Outside of the Coltrane and Coleman ensembles
, Jimmy Garrison performed with jazz artists such as Kenny Dorham
, Philly Joe Jones
, Curtis Fuller
, Benny Golson
, Lennie Tristano
, Lee Konitz
, Jackie McLean
, Pharoah Sanders
, and Tony Scott
, among others. After Coltrane's death, Garrison worked with Hampton Hawes
, Archie Shepp
, and groups led by Elvin Jones
.
, Cameron Brown
, Tony Scott
and many others.
Matthew Garrison is also a bass player. He has performed and recorded with Joe Zawinul
, Chaka Khan
, The Saturday Night Live Band, John McLaughlin
, Joni Mitchell
, Herbie Hancock
, Steve Coleman
, Whitney Houston
, Pino Daniele
, John Scofield
, Paul Simon
, Tito Puente
and many others. Garrison's 4th daughter MaiaClaire Garrison is a dancer and choreographer who worked as a child acrobat
with Big Apple Circus
in New York
.
With John Coltrane
With others
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
double bassist born in Miami, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. He was best known through his long association with John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
from 1961–1967.
Biography
He formally joined Coltrane's quartet in 1962, replacing Reggie WorkmanReggie Workman
Reginald "Reggie" Workman is an American avant-garde jazz and hard bop double bassist, recognized for his work with both John Coltrane and Art Blakey....
. The long trio blues "Chasin' the Trane" is probably his first recorded performance with Coltrane and Elvin Jones
Elvin Jones
Elvin Ray Jones was a jazz drummer of the post-bop era. He showed interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan....
. Garrison appeared on many classic Coltrane recordings, including A Love Supreme
A Love Supreme
A Love Supreme is a studio album recorded by John Coltrane's quartet in December 1964 and released by Impulse! Records in February 1965...
. In concert with Coltrane, Garrison would often play unaccompanied improvised solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
s, sometimes as the prelude
Prelude (music)
A prelude is a short piece of music, the form of which may vary from piece to piece. The prelude can be thought of as a preface. It may stand on its own or introduce another work...
to a song before the other musicians joined in.
Garrison also had a long association with Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....
, first recording with him on Ornette on Tenor and Art of the Improvisers. He and drummer Elvin Jones
Elvin Jones
Elvin Ray Jones was a jazz drummer of the post-bop era. He showed interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan....
have been credited with eliciting more forceful playing than usual from Coleman on the albums New York is Now and Love Call.
Outside of the Coltrane and Coleman ensembles
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
, Jimmy Garrison performed with jazz artists such as Kenny Dorham
Kenny Dorham
McKinley Howard Dorham was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer born in Fairfield, Texas. Dorham's talent is frequently lauded by critics and other musicians, but he never received the kind of attention from the jazz establishment that many of his peers did...
, Philly Joe Jones
Philly Joe Jones
Joseph Rudolph Jones was a Philadelphia-born United States jazz drummer, known as the drummer for the Miles Davis Quintet.Philly Joe Jones was often confused with another influential jazz drummer, Jo Jones...
, Curtis Fuller
Curtis Fuller
Curtis DuBois Fuller is an American jazz trombonist, known as a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and contributor to many classic jazz recordings.-Biography:...
, Benny Golson
Benny Golson
Benny Golson is an American bebop/hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger.-Biography:While in high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Golson played with several other promising young musicians, including John Coltrane, Red Garland, Jimmy Heath, Percy Heath, Philly Joe Jones, and...
, Lennie Tristano
Lennie Tristano
Leonard Joseph Tristano was a jazz pianist, composer and teacher of jazz improvisation. He performed in the cool jazz, bebop, post bop and avant-garde jazz genres. He remains a somewhat overlooked figure in jazz history, but his enormous originality and dazzling work as an improviser have long...
, Lee Konitz
Lee Konitz
Lee Konitz is an American jazz composer and alto saxophonist born in Chicago, Illinois.Generally considered one of the driving forces of Cool Jazz, Konitz has also performed successfully in bebop and avant-garde settings...
, Jackie McLean
Jackie McLean
John Lenwood McLean was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader and educator, born in New York City.-Biography:McLean's father, John Sr., played guitar in Tiny Bradshaw's orchestra...
, Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders is a Grammy Award–winning American jazz saxophonist.Saxophonist Ornette Coleman once described him as "probably the best tenor player in the world." Emerging from John Coltrane's groups of the mid-60s Sanders is known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on...
, and Tony Scott
Tony Scott
Anthony D. L. "Tony" Scott is an English film director. His films include Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, The Last Boy Scout, True Romance, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, Spy Game, Man on Fire, Déjà Vu, The Taking of Pelham 123, and Unstoppable...
, among others. After Coltrane's death, Garrison worked with Hampton Hawes
Hampton Hawes
Hampton Hawes was an American bebop and hard-bop jazz pianist, recognized as one of the finest and most influential of the 1950s.-Biography:...
, Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp is a prominent African-American jazz saxophonist. Shepp is best known for his passionately Afrocentric music of the late 1960s, which focused on highlighting the injustices faced by the African-Americans, as well as for his work with the New York Contemporary Five, Horace Parlan, and...
, and groups led by Elvin Jones
Elvin Jones
Elvin Ray Jones was a jazz drummer of the post-bop era. He showed interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan....
.
Family
Jimmy Garrison has three children in the world of the arts. Joy Garrison, Garrison's first daughter, sang alongside Barney KesselBarney Kessel
Barney Kessel was an American jazz guitarist born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA. Generally considered to be one of the greatest jazz guitarists of the 20th century, he was noted in particular for his vast knowledge of chords and inversions and chord-based melodies...
, Cameron Brown
Cameron Brown
Cameron Brown is an American jazz double bassist born in Detroit, Michigan.-Biography:Cameron started studying music at age 10, first on piano, later on clarinet. But, drawn to the bass, he found himself playing a tin bass in a student dance band...
, Tony Scott
Tony Scott
Anthony D. L. "Tony" Scott is an English film director. His films include Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, The Last Boy Scout, True Romance, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, Spy Game, Man on Fire, Déjà Vu, The Taking of Pelham 123, and Unstoppable...
and many others.
Matthew Garrison is also a bass player. He has performed and recorded with Joe Zawinul
Joe Zawinul
Josef Erich Zawinul was an Austrian-American jazz keyboardist and composer.First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with trumpeter Miles Davis, and to become one of the creators of jazz fusion, an innovative musical genre that combined jazz with...
, Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan , frequently known as the Queen of Funk, is a 10-time Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter who gained fame in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. While still a member of the group in 1978, Khan embarked on a successful solo career...
, The Saturday Night Live Band, John McLaughlin
John McLaughlin (musician)
John McLaughlin , also known as Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, is an English guitarist, bandleader and composer...
, Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
, Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
, Steve Coleman
Steve Coleman
Steve Coleman, born , is an African American saxophone player, spontaneous composer, composer and band leader. His music and concepts have been a heavy influence on contemporary jazz.-Chicago:...
, Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
, Pino Daniele
Pino Daniele
Pino Daniele is an Italian vocalist, composer, and musician, whose influences cover a wide number of genres, fusing pop, blues, jazz, Italian and Middle eastern music into his own unique brand of world music.-Studio albums:...
, John Scofield
John Scofield
John Scofield , often referred to as "Sco," is an American jazz guitarist and composer, who has played and collaborated with Miles Davis, Dave Liebman, Joe Henderson, Charles Mingus, Joey Defrancesco, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell, Pat Martino, Mavis Staples, Phil Lesh, Billy Cobham,...
, Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
, Tito Puente
Tito Puente
Tito Puente, , born Ernesto Antonio Puente, was a Latin jazz and Salsa musician. The son of native Puerto Ricans Ernest and Ercilia Puente, of Spanish Harlem in New York City, Puente is often credited as "El Rey de los Timbales" and "The King of Latin Music"...
and many others. Garrison's 4th daughter MaiaClaire Garrison is a dancer and choreographer who worked as a child acrobat
Acrobat
Acrobat may refer to:* Acrobat, one who practises acrobaticsIn music:* "Acrobat" , from U2's album Achtung Baby* "Acrobat", a song from Maxïmo Park's album A Certain TriggerIn literature:* Acrobat, a novel by Gonzalo Lira...
with Big Apple Circus
Big Apple Circus
The Big Apple Circus is a circus that is based in New York City. Opened in 1977, it has become a tourist attraction as well. It has been highly influential towards the creation of Cirque du Soleil, tent-based circuses and smaller non-profit shows, such as Circus Flora.-The 1970s:The idea of...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
As leader
- 1963: Illumination! (Impulse! RecordsImpulse! RecordsImpulse! Records was an American jazz record label, originally established in 1960 by producer Creed Taylor as a subsidiary of ABC-Paramount Records, based in New York City...
) - co-leader with Elvin JonesElvin JonesElvin Ray Jones was a jazz drummer of the post-bop era. He showed interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan....
As sideman
With Ornette ColemanOrnette Coleman
Ornette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....
- Ornette on TenorOrnette on TenorOrnette on Tenor is an album by the American jazz composer and saxophonist Ornette Coleman recorded in 1961 and released on the Atlantic label.-Reception:...
(Atlantic, 1961) - The Art of the ImprovisersThe Art of the ImprovisersThe Art of the Improvisers is an album by the American jazz composer and saxophonist Ornette Coleman featuring tracks recorded between 1959 and 1961 which was first released on the Atlantic label in 1970.-Reception:...
((Atlantic, 1961) - New York Is Now!New York Is Now!__notoc__New York Is Now! is an album by the American jazz saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman released on the Blue Note label in 1968....
(Blue Note, 1968)
With John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
- BalladsBallads (John Coltrane album)Ballads is a jazz album by the John Coltrane Quartet. It was recorded in December 1961 and 1962, and released on the Impulse! label in 1963 as A-32 and later AS-32 . Critic Gene Lees stated that the quartet had never played the tunes before...
(1962) - ColtraneColtrane (Impulse! album)Coltrane is a 1962 studio album by jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. When reissued on CD, it featured a Coltrane composition dedicated to his hero "Big Nick" Nicholas which Coltrane would record later the same year with his Ellington collaboration Duke Ellington & John Coltrane.- Track listing...
(1962) - Duke Ellington & John ColtraneDuke Ellington & John ColtraneDuke Ellington & John Coltrane is a jazz album by Duke Ellington and John Coltrane recorded on September 26, 1962 and released in February 1963 on Impulse! Records....
(1962) - John Coltrane and Johnny HartmanJohn Coltrane and Johnny HartmanJohn Coltrane and Johnny Hartman is a 1963 studio album featuring John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman.Though Coltrane and Hartman had known each other since their days playing with Dizzy Gillespie's band in the late 1940s , Hartman is the only vocalist with whom the...
(1962) - Live at BirdlandLive at BirdlandLive at Birdland is a 1963 album by jazz musician John Coltrane. Despite its title, only the first three tracks were recorded live at the Birdland club, the rest were studio tracks. Among the studio tracks is "Alabama" a tribute to four children killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing,...
(1963) - CrescentCrescent (John Coltrane)Crescent is a 1964 studio album by jazz musician John Coltrane, released by Impulse! as A-66. It features his jazz quartet group of McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones playing all original Coltrane compositions, with the leader playing tenor saxophone exclusively. It is commonly regarded as...
(1964) - A Love SupremeA Love SupremeA Love Supreme is a studio album recorded by John Coltrane's quartet in December 1964 and released by Impulse! Records in February 1965...
(1964) - Ascension (1965)
- First MeditationsFirst MeditationsFirst Meditations is a 1977 album by John Coltrane recorded in 1965. It is a quartet version of a suite Coltrane would record as Meditations two months later with the additions of Pharoah Sanders as a second tenor saxophone and Rashied Ali on drums...
(1965) - The John Coltrane Quartet PlaysThe John Coltrane Quartet PlaysThe John Coltrane Quartet Plays is a 1965 album by jazz musician John Coltrane.-Track listing:#"Chim Chim Cheree" – 6:58...
(1965) - Kulu Sé MamaKulu Sé MamaKulu Sé Mama is an album by jazz musician John Coltrane. Recorded during 1965, it was released in early 1967 as Impulse! A-9106 . The title piece and "Selflessness" were recorded in October 1965 and feature a large ensemble including Sanders, Garrett, Butler and Lewis...
(1965) - Live at the Half Note: One Down, One UpLive at the Half Note: One Down, One UpLive at the Half Note: One Down, One Up is a 1965 album by jazz musician John Coltrane.-Track listing:Original CD release Live at the Half Note: One Down, One Up .Disc 1#"Introduction and Announcements" – 1:36...
([1965) - Live in Seattle (1965)
- The Major Works of John ColtraneThe Major Works of John ColtraneThe Major Works of John Coltrane is a compilation album by jazz musician John Coltrane. Despite its title, it only features tracks from a few recording sessions in 1965, so it is not a "greatest hits" album...
(1965) - MeditationsMeditations (album)Meditations is a 1965 album by John Coltrane. It features Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders as soloists, both playing tenor saxophones. Much of the recording is fairly avant-garde, featuring extensive passages in free rhythm and extended saxophone techniques such as honked and overblown notes, as well...
(1965) - Transition (1965)
- Sun ShipSun ShipSun Ship is a jazz album recorded on August 26, 1965, by tenor saxophonist John Coltrane. The album extended the free jazz ideas of Transition. The relaxed, serene feel of earlier ballads like "Welcome" was transformed into a new style of ballad on "Dearly Beloved" and "Attaining"...
(1965) - Live in Japan (4 discs) (1966)
- Live at the Village Vanguard Again!Live at the Village Vanguard Again!Live At The Village Vanguard Again! is a jazz album by saxophonist John Coltrane. Recorded in May of 1966, the album shows Coltrane playing in the free jazz style that characterized his final recordings....
( 1966) - ExpressionExpression (album)Expression is an album by jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. The title track was Coltrane's last studio recording; the rest of the album was recorded at about the same time as Interstellar Space. "To Be" features Coltrane on flute, the only recording he made on the instrument for an entire track...
(1967) - The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live RecordingOlatunji ConcertThe Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording is the Impulse! Records-released final live recording of saxophonist John Coltrane, recorded April 23, 1967, at the Olatunji Center of African Culture in New York and released posthumously on Compact Disc...
(1967)
With others
- Blues for Dracula (Philly Joe JonesPhilly Joe JonesJoseph Rudolph Jones was a Philadelphia-born United States jazz drummer, known as the drummer for the Miles Davis Quintet.Philly Joe Jones was often confused with another influential jazz drummer, Jo Jones...
, 1958) - Swing, Swang, Swingin'Swing, Swang, Swingin'Swing, Swang, Swingin' is an album by American saxophonist Jackie McLean recorded in 1959 and released on the Blue Note label. It was released on CD only in Japan.-Reception:...
(Jackie McLeanJackie McLeanJohn Lenwood McLean was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader and educator, born in New York City.-Biography:McLean's father, John Sr., played guitar in Tiny Bradshaw's orchestra...
, 1959) - Live at the Half Note (Lee KonitzLee KonitzLee Konitz is an American jazz composer and alto saxophonist born in Chicago, Illinois.Generally considered one of the driving forces of Cool Jazz, Konitz has also performed successfully in bebop and avant-garde settings...
, 1959) - Jazz ContemporaryJazz ContemporaryJazz Contemporary is an album by American jazz trumpeter Kenny Dorham featuring performances recorded in 1960 and released on the Time label. The album features the recording debut of pianist Steve Kuhn.-Reception:...
(Kenny DorhamKenny DorhamMcKinley Howard Dorham was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer born in Fairfield, Texas. Dorham's talent is frequently lauded by critics and other musicians, but he never received the kind of attention from the jazz establishment that many of his peers did...
, 1960) - Images of Curtis FullerImages of Curtis FullerImages of Curtis Fuller is an album by jazz trombonist Curtis Fuller, released in 1960 on Savoy Records.-Track listing:#"Accident"#"Darryl's Minor"#"Be Back Ta-Reckla"#"Judyful"#"New Date"#"Accident"...
(Curtis FullerCurtis FullerCurtis DuBois Fuller is an American jazz trombonist, known as a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and contributor to many classic jazz recordings.-Biography:...
, 1960) - Show BoatShow Boat (Kenny Dorham album)Show Boat is an album by American jazz trumpeter Kenny Dorham featuring performances of tunes from the Jerome Kern musical Show Boat recorded in 1960 and released on the Time label.-Reception:...
(Kenny Dorham, 1960) - East Broadway Run DownEast Broadway Run DownEast Broadway Run Down is a 1966 album by jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins, his last album before industry pressures led him to take a six year hiatus. The album represents one of his more notable experiments with free jazz, according to The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz illustrating "the furthest...
(Sonny RollinsSonny RollinsTheodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...
, 1966) - Impressions of New YorkImpressions of New YorkImpressions of New York is an album by German jazz clarinetist Rolf Kühn and his brother, pianist Joachim Kühn, featuring performances recorded in 1967 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:...
(Rolf KühnRolf KühnRolf Kühn . is a jazz clarinetist and saxophonist.He lived in the United States from 1956–59 and drew favourable reviews, for example a comparison with Benny Goodman by John H. Hammond....
and Joachim KühnJoachim Kühn-Biography:Kühn was a musical prodigy and made his debut as a concert pianist, having studied classical piano and composition with Arthur Schmidt-Elsey. Influenced by his elder brother, clarinetist Rolf Kühn, he simultaneously got interested in jazz. In 1961 he became a professional jazz musician....
, 1967) - Puttin' It TogetherPuttin' It TogetherPuttin' It Together is an album by American jazz drummer Elvin Jones recorded in 1968 and released on the Blue Note label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4 stars and stated "Joe Farrell did some of his finest playing while with drummer Elvin Jones' trio during...
and The Ultimate (Elvin JonesElvin JonesElvin Ray Jones was a jazz drummer of the post-bop era. He showed interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan....
, 1968) - New York Is Now!New York Is Now!__notoc__New York Is Now! is an album by the American jazz saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman released on the Blue Note label in 1968....
and Love CallLove Call (album)Love Call is an album by the American jazz saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman released on the Blue Note label in 1968.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 3 stars and stated "The other half of the New York Is Now session, which is, in a sense, ridiculous. Blue Note...
(Ornette ColemanOrnette ColemanOrnette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....
, 1968) - Attica BluesAttica Blues (album)Attica Blues is an album by avant-garde jazz saxophonist Archie Shepp. Originally released in 1972 on the Impulse! label, the album title is a direct reference to the Attica Prison riots...
(Archie SheppArchie SheppArchie Shepp is a prominent African-American jazz saxophonist. Shepp is best known for his passionately Afrocentric music of the late 1960s, which focused on highlighting the injustices faced by the African-Americans, as well as for his work with the New York Contemporary Five, Horace Parlan, and...
, 1972)