Biography
by Thom Jurek
English
pianist, organist, and composer Michael Garrick studied literature at
London University before leading a trio and quartet in the late '50s. He
mixed music and literature in the early '60s, doing more than 250
concerts that blended poetry and jazz. His earliest recording from 1959
was Blues for the Lonely EP, for Columbia. It also featured Joe
Harriott, Shake Keane, and poet Jeremy Robson; he also released Kronos
with a different group. Garrick was actively composing and doing stage
presentations of large and small works and didn't record again until
1963, when A Case of Jazz appeared, which was quickly followed by Poetry
and Jazz in Concert. In 1964 he independently pressed and released
Moonscapes, a 10" LP with drummer Colin Barnes and bassist David Green.
It was pressed in an edition of 99 copies, which quickly sold out; it
remained in obscurity until Jonny Trunk and his Trunk Records imprint
remastered and re-released it in 2007.
Garrick formed a sextet in
1965 and recorded the album Promises for Argo/Vocalion that year with
Harriott on alto sax, Ian Carr on trumpet, Tony Coe on tenor, and
Coleridge Goode on bass. Before Night/Day and the treasured Black
Marigolds both appeared in 1966; the latter featured Coe and Harriott.
Garrick experimented with harpsichord in the mid-'60s, and explored jazz
settings for liturgical works, the first of which was the seminal Jazz
Praises at St. Paul's issued in 1968. He made several albums with his
various groups into the early '70s, heading trios, quartets, quintets,
and septets. Among the most important recordings from this period are
The Heart Is a Lotus (featuring vocalist Norma Winstone) in 1970, Cold
Mountains in 1972, and Troppo in 1973, all for Argo/Vocalion. Garrick
also played with and composed for the Don Rendell/Ian Carr Quintet and
Neil Ardley's New Jazz Orchestra.
Garrick began teaching in
earnest in the 1970s and his recordings became more infrequent. He had
formed the Traveling Jazz Faculty in 1965 for the purpose of
entertaining and teaching children the fundamentals of music in the
classroom. In the '70s he also held teaching posts at the Royal Academy
of Music and the Guildhall, and a professorial post at the Trinity
College of Music. In 1975 he instigated a jazz course for the Wavendon
All Music Plan at composer John Dankworth's request. (Education and
teaching became and remain as big a part of his career as composing and
recording.) Garrick didn't record again until 1978 when he issued You've
Changed with Don Weller, Chris Lawrence, and Alan Jackson. He stopped
recording after this date until the 1990s, though he gigged regularly
with Chris Hunter and David Green from 1984 on. He formed a sextet in
1983 and a big band in 1985, both of which remain active, and his "New
Quartet" made its recording debut in 2001.
Garrick finally
resumed his recording career in 1993 with a trio date entitled A Lady in
Waiting with Jackson and Green. In 1994 the pianist also became an
orchestral director and arranger. Meteors Close at Hand appeared in 1994
on his Jazz Academy imprint. It was followed by Parting Is Such;
another trio recording featured guest appearances by Rendell and
violinist Chris Garrick. In 1996 he issued For Love of Duke...and Ronnie
on Jazz Academy, which featured his trio, an orchestra, and his first
recorded collaboration with vocalist Jacqui Dankworth. He finished the
century with Down on Your Knees, recorded by his big band with vocalist
Anita Wardell.
As busy as Garrick had been in the 20th century,
it was but a precursor to the 21st. In 1999 he helped to establish
standards for the Associated Board's jazz examinations. His Jazz Academy
label kicked off the new millennium with Joe Harriott: Genius, which
featured nine rare Harriott recordings with an additional two from the
period with himself, Keane, Johnny Taylor, and Alan Green. In 2001 his
New Quartet issued its first recording, with Jackson, Paul Moylan, and
Martin Hathaway. He shifted focus a bit in 2002 with the release of the
folk-influenced Green and Pleasant Land, with Chris Garrick, Dominic
Ashworth, and Moylan, known as Garricks' Strings Quartet. The
large-scale orchestra recording Peter Pan: Jazzdance Suite (featuring
vocalist Anita Wardell) appeared in 2003. Garrick's big-band tribute
entitled Big Band Harriott was issued in 2004, and followed quickly by
2005's Children of Time, performed by yet another large group called the
Michael Garrick Jazz Britannia Orchestra with Norma Winstone. The
quartet reunited for Inspirations for John Coltrane's 80th birthday in
2006.
Norma Winstone -- who has a busy recording, teaching, and
touring schedule of her own -- also fronted the Michael Garrick Jazz
Orchestra for Yet Another Spring -- Births, Marriages & Death in
2007 and for the Ellington tribute suite Lady of the Aurian Wood: For
Duke in 2009. Also appearing in 2009 was Garrick's Remembered Time:
Songs by and for Bill Evans, performed by his orchestra with vocalist
Nette Robinson, who also fronted the group for 2010's Tone Poems. While
his recording and performing career remained in full swing -- in his
seventh decade as a professional musician -- the energetic Garrick
continued to teach, as he organized two weeks of workshops each year
during the 2000s at his own jazz academy based at the Beechwood Campus
in Tunbridge Wells. In 2011 the indefatigable Trunk Records issued
Rising Stars: A Case of Jazz Plus Rare Tracks, assembled from recordings
done by Michael Garrick and Shake Keane from the late '50s and early
'60s. Active and inspired to the end despite heart problems, Michael
Garrick died on November 11, 2011 at the age of 78.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/michael-garrick-mn0000337678/biography
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Biografía
por Thom Jurek
El
pianista, organista y compositor inglés Michael Garrick estudió
literatura en la Universidad de Londres antes de dirigir un trío y un
cuarteto a finales de los años 50. Mezcló música y literatura a
principios de los 60, dando más de 250 conciertos en los que mezclaba
poesía y jazz. Su primera grabación, de 1959, fue Blues for the Lonely
EP, para Columbia. En él también participaron Joe Harriott, Shake Keane y
el poeta Jeremy Robson; también publicó Kronos con un grupo diferente.
Garrick estaba componiendo activamente y haciendo presentaciones
escénicas de obras grandes y pequeñas y no volvió a grabar hasta 1963,
cuando apareció A Case of Jazz, al que siguieron rápidamente Poetry y
Jazz in Concert. En 1964 editó de forma independiente Moonscapes, un LP
de 10 pulgadas con el batería Colin Barnes y el bajista David Green. Se
imprimió en una edición de 99 copias, que se agotó rápidamente;
permaneció en el olvido hasta que Jonny Trunk y su sello Trunk Records
lo remasterizaron y reeditaron en 2007.
Garrick formó un sexteto
en 1965 y grabó el álbum Promises para Argo/Vocalion ese mismo año con
Harriott al saxo alto, Ian Carr a la trompeta, Tony Coe al tenor y
Coleridge Goode al bajo. Before Night/Day y el atesorado Black Marigolds
aparecieron en 1966; en este último participaron Coe y Harriott.
Garrick experimentó con el clavicémbalo a mediados de los 60 y exploró
la ambientación jazzística de obras litúrgicas, la primera de las cuales
fue la seminal Jazz Praises at St. A principios de los 70 grabó varios
álbumes con sus diversos grupos, al frente de tríos, cuartetos,
quintetos y septetos. Entre las grabaciones más importantes de este
periodo se encuentran The Heart Is a Lotus (con la vocalista Norma
Winstone) en 1970, Cold Mountains en 1972 y Troppo en 1973, todas para
Argo/Vocalion. Garrick también tocó y compuso para el Don Rendell/Ian
Carr Quintet y la New Jazz Orchestra de Neil Ardley.
Garrick
empezó a dar clases en serio en los años 70 y sus grabaciones se
hicieron menos frecuentes. Había formado la Traveling Jazz Faculty en
1965 con el propósito de entretener y enseñar a los niños los
fundamentos de la música en el aula. En los años 70 también ocupó
puestos de profesor en la Royal Academy of Music y el Guildhall, así
como en el Trinity College of Music. En 1975 instigó un curso de jazz
para el All Music Plan de Wavendon a petición del compositor John
Dankworth. (La educación y la enseñanza se convirtieron y siguen siendo
una parte tan importante de su carrera como la composición y la
grabación). Garrick no volvió a grabar hasta 1978, cuando publicó You've
Changed con Don Weller, Chris Lawrence y Alan Jackson. Dejó de grabar
después de esta fecha hasta la década de 1990, aunque actuó regularmente
con Chris Hunter y David Green a partir de 1984. Formó un sexteto en
1983 y una big band en 1985, que siguen en activo, y su "New Quartet"
hizo su debut discográfico en 2001.
Garrick reanudó finalmente su
carrera discográfica en 1993 con un trío titulado A Lady in Waiting con
Jackson y Green. En 1994, el pianista se convirtió también en director
de orquesta y arreglista. Meteors Close at Hand apareció en 1994 en su
sello Jazz Academy. Le siguió Parting Is Such, otra grabación en trío
con la participación de Rendell y el violinista Chris Garrick. En 1996
publicó For Love of Duke...and Ronnie en Jazz Academy, que incluía a su
trío, una orquesta y su primera colaboración grabada con la vocalista
Jacqui Dankworth. Terminó el siglo con Down on Your Knees, grabado por
su big band con la vocalista Anita Wardell.
La intensa actividad
de Garrick en el siglo XX no fue más que la antesala del XXI. En 1999
ayudó a establecer las normas para los exámenes de jazz de la Associated
Board. Su sello Jazz Academy inauguró el nuevo milenio con Joe
Harriott: Genius, que incluía nueve grabaciones raras de Harriott y
otras dos de la época con él mismo, Keane, Johnny Taylor y Alan Green.
En 2001, su New Quartet publicó su primera grabación, con Jackson, Paul
Moylan y Martin Hathaway. En 2002 cambió un poco de enfoque con el
lanzamiento de Green and Pleasant Land, de influencia folk, con Chris
Garrick, Dominic Ashworth y Moylan, conocido como Garricks' Strings
Quartet. La grabación para orquesta a gran escala Peter Pan: Jazzdance
Suite (con la vocalista Anita Wardell) apareció en 2003. El tributo a la
big band de Garrick titulado Big Band Harriott se publicó en 2004, y le
siguió rápidamente Children of Time en 2005, interpretado por otro gran
grupo llamado Michael Garrick Jazz Britannia Orchestra con Norma
Winstone. El cuarteto se reunió para Inspirations con motivo del 80
cumpleaños de John Coltrane en 2006.
Norma Winstone, que tiene
una apretada agenda de grabaciones, enseñanza y giras, también se puso
al frente de la Michael Garrick Jazz Orchestra para Yet Another Spring
-- Births, Marriages & Death en 2007 y para la suite tributo a
Ellington Lady of the Aurian Wood: For Duke en 2009. En 2009, Garrick
publicó Remembered Time: Songs by and for Bill Evans, interpretado por
su orquesta con la vocalista Nette Robinson, que también se puso al
frente del grupo en Tone Poems, de 2010. Mientras su carrera
discográfica e interpretativa seguía en pleno apogeo -en su séptima
década como músico profesional-, el enérgico Garrick continuó enseñando,
ya que organizó dos semanas de talleres cada año durante la década de
2000 en su propia academia de jazz con sede en el Beechwood Campus de
Tunbridge Wells. En 2011 el infatigable Trunk Records publicó Rising
Stars: A Case of Jazz Plus Rare Tracks, ensamblado a partir de
grabaciones realizadas por Michael Garrick y Shake Keane de finales de
los 50 y principios de los 60. Activo e inspirado hasta el final a pesar
de sus problemas cardíacos, Michael Garrick falleció el 11 de noviembre
de 2011 a la edad de 78 años.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/michael-garrick-mn0000337678/biography