Groovy was the third album to be released by acclaimed jazz pianist Red Garland. Originally released on Prestige Records in 1957 this energetic jazz album was performed by a trio made up of Garland alongside Paul Chambers (bass) and Art Taylor (drums).

This new edition is released as part of the Original Jazz Classics Series and is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI with all-analog mastering from the original tapes by Matthew Lutthans at Cohearent Audio and presented in a Tip-On Jacket.

Side A:
1. C-Jam Blues
2. Gone Again
3. Will You Still Be Mine?

Side B:
1. Willow Weep For Me
2. What Can I Say, Dear
3. Hey Now

To my mind, Red Garland has never received the amount of praise he deserves. Maybe he simply didn’t stick around long enough with Miles once the maestro was signed to Columbia. The great Miles Prestige sets which Garland was a part of as well as Round About Midnight and Milestones, are among the greatest piano accompaniments on record, in my humble opinion.

Simply put, Red Garland’s style is refined, purity at its greatest, simplicity at its finest. Furthermore, this album has been chosen as one of the 100 jazz recordings of all time and rightly so.

For my money, Groovy is definitely one of his most accessible, appealing, representative sessions, exemplary in terms of the jazz piano trio. For those of us who happened to play piano but not as well as Oscar (by a long shot), Red was frequently the pianist we chose to emulate (to the point of transcribing his solos and chord voice note for note).

This recording represents 2/3 of the Miles Davis rhythm section, as Red and bassist Paul Chambers are joined by Art Taylor, a drummer perhaps lacking the quick hands and nifty bebop phrasing of Miles’ regular, Philly Joe Jones, but making up in Blakey-rooted swing and drive what might be missing in finesse.

And unlike Blakey, he can play with subtlety and taste when called upon to do so, making him perhaps an ideal compromise between Philly Joe and Art in a piano trio ensemble.

Oh, and having the name Groovy, one would assume that this album is full of a lot of songs played with the style he had on Billy Boy. Although C-Jam Blues, Hey Now and What Can I Say (After I Say I’m Sorry) are very similar to the style of Billy Boy the other half of the songs are beautiful, sugar to the ears ballads.

In closing, and with this most fabulous new 180 gram vinyl from Craft Recordings now out, to listen to it again in this pristine condition reminds me that it is, and without doubt, one of the great piano trio recordings. Red Garland was the man, for sure. Subtle, tasteful and artistic, all rolled into one.

Official Purchase Link