The original live album became one of the biggest-selling jazz records ever. Now, exactly 60 years after it was recorded, comes this triple CD containing twice as much material. Garner was a musical phenomenon. He was completely self-taught, with a style - an unlikely alliance of impressionism and swing - that owed nothing to any other jazz pianist, and the power to draw large audiences so deeply into his improvisations that applause would erupt mid-performance. He was ambidextrous, could keep several rhythms going at once, and his technique was astounding. What’s more, he made it all sound like fun. Dudley Moore, who studied Garner for years, told me that he still had no idea how he did it.
