“Erroll Garner had so much spirit when he played, so much joy, so much groove,” Michael Wolff recently told Michael Bourne. “That’s why I think he was such a successful pianist. No matter what he did — and he played really, for his day, very sophisticated outside harmonies — but everything he played swung.”
Wolff was at our Yamaha Salon Concert on what would have been Erroll Garner's 94th birthday. He played both in a solo stride vein and with a swinging trio, and both performances were filmed.
The solo piece was “Makin’ Whoopee.” His trio number, with Ben Allison on bass and Allan Mednard on drums, was “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.” Watch both performances, as well as the brief conversation with Bourne, below.
For more information about Michael Wolff, visit his website.
