Erroll Garner - Concert by the Sea

Personnel: Erroll Garner(piano), Eddie Calhoun(bass), Denzil Best(drums)

Very few things in life make me happier than listening to Erroll Garner on the piano. Even in his ballads, there is an outstanding beauty in them, and even more a seemingly never ending momentum to his playing that will just lift your spirit. Garner stood out from other pianists of his time because of his willingness to use the entire instrument. Many of the pianists during the bop movement were merely looking to replicate Charlie Parker's style on the piano, and so what you would have would be long-winded, intricate, single-note lines being played, as if the piano was a solo instrument. Garner brought the instrument back to it's roots as an accompanying tool, but did not abandon the soloing technique. There is a very heavy use of block chords in his playing, and he syncopates his left and right hands in such a way that causes his music to swing like crazy, moreso than maybe any other jazz pianist ever.