Erroll Garner

This first-rate Erroll Garner compilation may serve as the perfect introduction to the pianist's richly rewarding artistry. It will also delight those who are already familiar with Garner's music. The producers have selected 22 Garnered interpretations of melodies by two outstanding songwriters, Richard Rodgers and Cole Porter. These performances, originally issued on no less than ten different record labels, have been laid out in two parallel chronological surveys, one for each composer, each spanning the years 1944-1953. Every performance is exquisite. The double versions of "Lover," "Love for Sale," and "What Is This Thing Called Love?" differ enough so as to demonstrate the artist's improvisational genius while feeling almost like cinematic themes in logical recurrence. Indeed, the two versions of "What Is This Thing Called Love?," which are separated only by a sketch of "Rosalie," seem to represent organically related but contrasting states of being that are coincidentally linked by Porter's tonalities and Garner's whimsy. ~ arwulf arwulf, All Music Guide