Available Now: Erroll Garner | “Feeling is Believe” (Octave Remastered Series) via Mack Avenue Records

Octave Music and Mack Avenue Music Group
Announce Final Four Releases to Erroll Garner’s
Critically Acclaimed Octave Remastered Series

AVAILABLE TODAY – Feeling Is Believing
April 17: Gemini
May 15: Magician
June 12: Gershwin & Kern

Newly Restored and Expanded Editions of
12 Classic Albums from Legendary Jazz Legend
Erroll Garner, Available via Mack Avenue Records

Acclaim for the Octave Remastered Series:

Erroll Garner featured in Variety
Erroll Garner’s A Night at the Movies Reviewed on NPR Fresh Air “Octave 103” featured in The New York Times Playlist

“These albums have left me looking forward to
what else is to come out of Octave’s vaults.” – The Arts Fuse

“The release of vintage recordings can lead to a reassessment
and deeper appreciation for an artist’s career, and that certainly
has been the case with pianist Erroll Garner.” – DownBeat

“Each features the elegant, smooth, hard-swinging and skilled two-handed
chordal melodicism of the seminal pianist.” – Columbia Daily Tribune

“The result is a stunning audio product that sounds refreshingly crisp
without losing its sense of authenticity or vintage charm.” – Jazziz

“Garner’s Octave reissues have been lovingly restored and expanded.” – JazzWax

“Kudos to the Mack Avenue folks for restoring this
gem to circulation.” – New York City Jazz Record

“Erroll Garner is among the most charming and chipper jazz pianists.”
– NPR Fresh Air

“He improvises with wit, style and grace, and he swings like mad. That joy he
radiated is still contagious. You could catch it even now.” – NPR Fresh Air

“Garner’s style was extremely florid and romantic, swirling jazz, classical,
and old-timey music into a style that encompassed the entire keyboard
and almost made backing musicians redundant.” – Stereogum

“…the improved sound quality…is really this series’ raison d’être.” – WBGO

The Octave Remastered Series – a historic year-long, 12-album project featuring newly restored and expanded editions of classic Erroll Garner releases from the 1960s and 1970s – announces the final four releases to wrap up the series: Feeling Is Believing (March 20), Gemini (April 17), Magician (May 15), Gershwin & Kern (June 12).

Each album contains a newly discovered unreleased bonus track. The first eight titles in the series – Dreamstreet, Closeup in Swing, One World Concert, A New Kind of Love, A Night at the Movies, Campus Concert, That’s My Kick, Up in Erroll’s Room – were released to critical acclaim.

The master tapes for all 12 albums in the series were transferred and restored using the Plangent playback system. Employing a wideband tape head, preamp and DSP package to capture and track the original recorder’s ultrasonic bias remnant, the Plangent Process removes the wow and flutter and FM/IM distortion from the recorded audio. This returns the listener to the original session experience, bringing to life Garner’s incomparable performances of his own compositions, as well as classic works from the jazz canon.

Album Notes:

Feeling Is Believing | March 20

Recorded at the tail end of 1969 with a cast of new collaborators, this album is a prime showcase of Erroll Garner’s two greatest strengths: his ability to completely reinvent well known songs, and his endlessly creative facility as a composer of original music. From his sultry “The Loving Touch” to the Afrofuturistic “Mood Island,” Garner’s originality again proves boundless.

Gemini | April 17

A more fitting title for this album does not exist. It is yet another example of just how well Erroll Garner knew and understood himself and his music. Perhaps his greatest talent was an ability to distill and communicate precisely who he was at any given moment. Here we find him perfectly embodying the definition of his sun sign. Whatever your views on astrology might be, all that is left to do is listen.

Magician | May 15

The selections Garner committed to tape in the fall of 1973 include what may be some of his best original compositions, alongside a series of timeless contemporary takes on American Songbook classics. Though it would turn out to be the final studio album of his life, it makes clear that Garner was continuing to innovate on his distinctly individualistic style, and surely would have for decades to come.

Gershwin & Kern | June 12

In his original 1976 liner notes, concert impresario George Wein concluded fittingly, “To put it simply, Erroll Garner is a great musical genius.” On this final album released during Garner’s life, he shows yet again his complete mastery of his instrument and his unmatched ability to interpret songs and make them his own. This newly restored album includes a previously unreleased Garner original, worthy of the two composers to which this album is dedicated.

The newly minted bonus tracks in the series are all Garner originals, eight of the 12 being previously unreleased compositions. “It’s truly shocking, and one of the greatest joys of this work, to find these fully realized tunes just sitting there on tape,” says Peter Lockhart, senior producer of the Octave Remastered Series.

One of the most prolific composers and performers in the history of jazz, as well as a courageous advocate for African American artistic freedom through the ownership and control over his own works. Garner is a legend among jazz pianists. His unique approach melds bebop and swing influences into a unique, unrivaled mastery.

Garner is also a notable figure in popular music history for the hard-won precedents he set for artistic freedom that still stand today. In 1959, because he had rights of approval on what was released, Garner successfully sued Columbia Records to remove an album they had released without his permission.

His victory was the first of its kind for any American artist in the music industry. Garner and his manager, Martha Glaser, subsequently founded and launched Octave Records, whose 12 releases make up the Octave Remastered Series.

Erroll Garner was a rare musician who was equally adored and respected by peers and devoted fans alike. He and his art were best summed up by the late trumpeter Clark Terry: “The man was complete. He could do it all.”

About Erroll Garner & His Legacy:

One of the most prolific composers and performers in the history of jazz, as well as a courageous advocate for African-American empowerment and artistic freedom, Garner is a legend among jazz pianists. His unique approach melds bebop and swing influences into a unique, unrivaled mastery.

In addition to his brilliant keyboard artistry, Garner is also a notable figure in popular music history for the hard-won precedents he set for artistic freedom that still stand today. In 1959, because he had rights of approval on what was released, Garner successfully sued Columbia Records to remove an album they had released without his permission.

His victory was the first of its kind for any American artist in the music industry. Garner and his manager, Martha Glaser, subsequently founded and launched Octave Records, whose 12 releases make up the Octave Remastered Series.

Erroll Garner was a rare musician who was equally adored and respected by peers and devoted fans alike. He and his art were best summed up by the late trumpeter Clark Terry: “The man was complete. He could do it all.”

For press materials on Erroll Garner, Mack Avenue artists or its family of imprints (including album covers, promotional photos and logos), please visit mackavenue.com/media 

MACK AVENUE · the road to great music · mackavenue.com
OCTAVE MUSIC · the home of Erroll Garner · errollgarner.com

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DL Media · 267-541-2784
Maureen McFadden · maureen@dlmediamusic.com
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Information and press materials (including album covers, promotional photos and bios) on all DL Media artists can be found at our website: dlmediamusic.com