In 1957 Red Garland put together a killer quintet that proceeded to record four classic recordings in a row from the month of March to December. These masterpieces were “All Mornin’ Long,” “Soul Junction,” “High Pressure,” and part of “Dig It! It’s interesting to note by taking a good look at Red Garland’s discography, he primarily recorded as a leader in a trio setting with Paul Chambers on Bass and Art Taylor on Drums. Despite being part of incredible classic recordings as a sideman with Miles Davis three years before, he had nothing to show as a leader with any horns included before 1957. So with the aid of John Coltrane on Tenor, a change on Bass from Paul Chambers to George Joyner and the addition of Donald Byrd on trumpet, a very unique Quintet emerged! Of course, there were other great musicians that could have been qualified as well but this particular combination was perfect with respect to the particular bluesy sound Red Garland wanted to achieve. They hit it just right and achieved so much notoriety in doing so as they recorded four Classic albums that will be remembered forever! One must understand that all the songs contained on these 4 albums were recorded on four dates March 22nd, November 15th, November 22nd, and December 13th.
“All Mornin’ Long” was a killer recording consisting of only three songs that include the title song, in which Coltrane takes the listener on a 20-minute journey, great stuff! Learn more about this album here.
Here’s “They Can’t Take That Away from Me”:
This brings us to November 15th and when the best recognized of all these masters was recorded “Soul Junction.” This album consisted of 5 songs, including a 15:30 minute title song where Coltrane and Donald Byrd proceed to dig deep into their bluesy souls and pour them out to the listener, unbeatable! Learn More about this album.
Here’s “Birk’s Works”:
“High Pressure” was next in chronological order although it contains 2 remaining tunes from the November 15th recording of “Soul Junction. Along with those tunes, there are 3 more that were recorded on December 13th. Unfortunately, this album was released 4 years later on late November 1961. Learn more here
Here’s “Soft Winds”:
Finally, the remaining 2 songs that were recorded in 1957 with this same exact quintet were on “Dig It!” You have “Billie’s Bounce” and this killer blues tune, “Lazy Mae”:
