Erroll Garner – pianist (b. June 15, 1921 – d. January 2, 1977)

was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His instrumental ballad "Misty", his best-known composition, has become a jazz standard. It was first recorded in 1956 with Mitch Miller and his orchestra, and played a prominent part in the 1971 motion picture Play Misty for Me. Garner began playing piano at the age of three. His elder siblings were taught piano by a "Miss Bowman". From an early age, Erroll would sit down and play anything she had demonstrated, "just like Miss Bowman", his eldest sister Martha said. Garner was self-taught and remained an "ear player" all his life, never learning to read music. At the age of seven, he began appearing on the radio station KDKA in Pittsburgh with a group named the Candy Kids. By the age of 11, he was playing on the Allegheny riverboats. In 1937, he joined local saxophonist Leroy Brown. Garner played locally in the shadow of his older brother Linton, also a pianist. Garner moved to New York City in 1944. He briefly worked with the bassist Slam Stewart, and although not a bebop musician per se, in 1947 played with Charlie Parker on the "Cool Blues" session. Although Garner's admission to the... Read