Musician Ernest McCarty Jr. pays tribute to friend and legendary Pittsburgh pianist with new project
It only took two days—July 27 and 28— and zero rehearsal time for bassist Ernest McCarty Jr., drummer Jimmie H. Smith, conga player Noel Quintana and late pianist Geri Allen to record, “A Reunion Tribute to Erroll Garner.”
“Ernie put everything together—the conga player and Geri Allen and he sent for me to come record in Pittsburgh. It was beautiful,” recalled Smith, 79, who resides in Los Angeles but hails from New Jersey. Smith began performing with Garner in 1969 and remained with the group until 1977. “We didn’t have no rehearsal, no nothing; we just sat down and hit—bang there it is. It was a pleasure doing it and it turned out so fantastic. I didn’t know what Ernie had in mind; my main thing was I just kept the time. But when we were with Erroll, we never had a rehearsal. We never knew what we were going to record. Erroll was a genius. On the Reunion Tribute to Erroll Garner CD, there was no music written down, we just played and recorded in two days.”
The result is an album reminiscent of Erroll Garner’s swing-style of off-the-cuff recording combined with more traditional versions of Garner’s songs. Recorded, mixed and mastered at Aspinwall’s Heid Studios a few weeks ago, the songs are ones that both McCarthy and Smith performed with Garner on numerous occasions.
“I felt like I was hit across the head with something on the first songs and then at the end it was like someone put ointment on it. It was crazy!” McCarty Jr. recalled when listening to the CD.
The first part of the disc contains lots of African rhythms and cruises along until it relaxes listeners with the final song. The recording session was supervised by George Heid Jr. Heid’s father, George Heid Sr., supervised Garner’s very first recording on December 20, 1937 in Downtown Pittsburgh. McCarty Jr.’s wife, Patricia Kearney, served as executive producer.
“When you start with a bang, you have to mellow people out at the end. I was trying to get people to contemplate. The last part of the CD reminds me of how audiences in Jazz clubs used to be. People were actually being touched (by the music). They thought about the Jazz life and style. It gave you a release from your problems and it brought people together. People of all colors played together even though society said they couldn’t live together,” McCarty Jr. said.
It was a labor of love 30 years in the making for McCarty, who performed with Garner from 1970 until Garner’s death in 1977 at the age of 53. Garner was a Jazz musician and pianist known for composing the Jazz standard, “Misty.”
“It was such an honor to work with Erroll Garner. I heard about him while I was in high school and when I got the call to play with the Erroll Garner Quartet I was like, ‘Wow!’ This was the top level of the profession which is what most musicians want when they start,” said McCarty Jr., who hails from Chicago but resides in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood. In addition to playing bass on “A Reunion Tribute to Erroll Garner,’ McCarty served as the project’s producer, musical director and arranger. “You started out in Chicago and you played gigs to get to a higher level. It’s still a gig but the audience is more national and international than just playing local clubs.”
McCarty credits Garner for broadening his life and musical scope. McCarty met Garner while performing at a club in New York and Garner was in the audience two or three times in one week. One night Garner called him over and the rest was history. The Garner Quartet of 1970-1977 consisted of Garner, McCarty Jr., Smith and conga player, the late Jose Mangual.
“We had the chance to see things and do things like have dinner with princess and ambassadors. Jazz opened up the doors for all that,” said McCarty Jr., who performed in the All-Chicago Youth Orchestra for three years and had aspirations of performing with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra but was unable to do so due to the color of his skin. “I learned how to trust myself and how to trust myself musically. I already knew how to play but I learned when to play and how to play it and how to carry yourself when you’re traveling internationally because you are on their soil.”
Following his time with Garner, McCarty Jr. toured the world with many performers including Gloria Gaynor, Odetta, Ike and Tina Turner, Oscar Brown Jr., Sonny Stitt, Art Farmer, and Donald Byrd. His adventures with these performers are chronicled in his book, “Recollections,” released in 2015. Currently it can be purchased through his website, www.mccartyart.com, but will soon be available at Barnes & Noble.
Although he never performed with Garner, Pittsburgh-based conga player Quintana had his own reasons for wanting to be a part of the ‘Reunion Tribute to Erroll Garner’ CD.
“I was proud and went through a lot of emotions because these guys are legends and are a big deal and Erroll Garner was a big deal. I felt honored that I was chosen to be a part of it. It was beautiful. It was almost like being in church; it was a spiritual experience. These musicians wanted to pay tribute to one of their colleagues and mentors and all of the musicians played from their hearts,” said Quintana, whose background is in Afro-Cuban music. “I hope people don’t let this music die.”
The surviving members of the Reunion Tribute to Erroll Garner band will be spreading the Erroll Garner sound around the land as they will be performing in various festivals next summer and have plans to tour Europe. France is currently locked down on the docket. A DVD is also in the works.
McCarty Jr. will be releasing an album of his own music next year and plans on doing another Erroll Garner tribute record in 2019. But for now, he’s enjoying the fruits of success that he is reaping with the ‘Reunion Tribute’ album.
“I want people to enjoy the CD,” McCarty Jr. said. “Hopefully they’ll investigate Garner and other artists who deserve the light shined on them. We were in the right place at the right time.”
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