Artists alike only in their genius

The greatest jazz artists are inimitable. Sure, they can inspire legions of copycats, as did Louis Armstrong, Lester Young, Charlie Parker and John Coltrane, among others. But their distinct voices, flowing from an utterly original inner source, remain sacrosanct, one of a kind, instantly identifiable.

Among the hundreds of pianists who have claimed jazz attention at one time or another, only a relatively small percentage can claim that sort of status: James P. Johnson, Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson, Fats Waller, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Bill Evans are a few who come to mind. And, in the post-WWII era, there are two more, each beyond comparison: Oscar Peterson and Erroll Garner.

Separated by four years in age (Garner was born in 1921, Peterson in ‘25), they came to maturity during the bebop years of the ‘40s, with Garner a participant in some early Parker recordings. But, responsive only to their own inner voices, their paths were startlingly different: Peterson took bebop into the outer limits of virtuosic expressiveness, while Garner developed a rhapsodic style blending bop with elements of swing, ragtime and stride piano.

Two new releases, both issued for the first time in the United States, are marvelous additions to the already extensive catalogs of both Peterson and Garner. “Tenderly” was recorded live at a 1958 concert in Vancouver by a Peterson trio that included guitarist Herb Ellis and bassist Ray Brown. It is the third release (after “Oscar Peterson 1951” and “Oscar Peterson Trio: Live at CBC Studios, 1960”) personally approved by Peterson for release on this label, which is the catalog imprint for the Canada-based Justin Time Records.

Peterson was 33 at the time of the performance, and very much at the height of his considerable powers. Equally important, the trio -- one of the legendary ensembles of the period, in fact of any jazz period -- had been playing together for five years and was functioning with impassioned musical unity.

Just managing to stay rhythmically together in the overdrive tempo of “The Surrey With the Fringe on Top,” for example, would be an almost insurmountable challenge for most groups, yet the Peterson trio executes the piece with flashing speed as well as an inexorably propulsive swing. And that’s pretty much par for the course throughout the entire album -- Peterson’s wildly effusive soloing on tunes such as “The Gypsy in My Soul,” “How About You” and Ellis’ boppish “Pogo,” grunting along with his lines as he goes.

In contrast, there is Peterson’s often underrated lyricism, his rich chording and arching way with a ballad line. Most of these qualities are especially present in his lovely extended piece, “The Music Box Suite,” which moves from childlike charm through brisk counterpoint into straight-ahead swing. Brown and Ellis are Peterson’s partners in every creative sense, with the former’s powerful foundation providing the support and the voltage for Peterson’s excursions, and the latter’s blues-roots lines offering the perfect foil for Peterson’s technical brilliance.

Keyboard technique

“Erroll Garner in Performance” is a video of a pair of 1964 BBC TV performances by the Garner trio (with Eddie Calhoun on bass and Kelly Martin on drums), available on VHS or DVD. Garner, who died in 1977, was in rare form for the appearances, which have been digitally remastered.

Characteristically, the BBC production had no superfluous fluff. Announcer Steve Race comes out to introduce the trio at the beginning and to sign off at the end of each of the 35-minute sets. In between, the black-and-white video simply focuses on the Garner trio, playing one tune after another, only pausing between numbers to acknowledge the enthusiastic applause from the studio audience.

The selections range from “Just One of Those Things” and “What Is This Thing Called Love?” to “Honeysuckle Rose” and “The Lady Is a Tramp.” Missing, but included as a bonus audio track played to accompany a Garner photo gallery, is his classic “Misty.”

The spare simplicity of the black-and-white production allows the music to come through with superb clarity -- fascinating for Garner’s fans, useful for pianists to view the keyboard technique of his extraordinarily natural talent. Stroking out left-hand chords, dancing through one fascinating melody after another with his busy left hand, slipping in rolling, harp-like arpeggios, dramatically shifting dynamics from soft to loud, Garner is a joy to watch, as well as hear. Perspiring profusely, his smiling countenance reflecting the shifts and changes in his musical line, he comes alive again as one of the jazz world’s most matchless and inventive originals.