Garland

The late 1950s were tough on Judy Garland, but this live recording, cut on April 23, 1961, at Carnegie Hall, would (rightfully) bring the legendary icon back into the spotlight. Live would go on to win five Grammys, be Garland's bestselling record, and confirm that, yes, on certain levels, she still had it. Her vocals are as strong as ever on these tunes, and Garland has fun with an audience obviously enraptured by her charms. She's self-deprecating where necessary–on "You Go to My Head" she "forgets" the lyrics but pretends to improvise. Mostly she just shines, especially on tunes she made famous, such as "Come Rain or Come Shine," "Stormy Weather," and "Over the Rainbow." This is easily one of pop music's greatest live recordings and a fine testament to Garland's recorded legacy. This two-CD set has been remastered for EMI's 40th-anniversary reissue to coincide with the ABC film based on daughter Lorna Luft's memoir Me and My Shadows.

A Garland of Red is the debut album by pianist Red Garland, recorded in 1956 and released on the Prestige label. In his review for AllMusic, Scott Yanow stated: "Thirty-three at the time of this, his first recording as a leader, pianist Red Garland already had his distinctive style fully formed and had been with the Miles Davis Quintet for a year… Red Garland recorded frequently during the 1956-62 period and virtually all of his trio recordings are consistently enjoyable, this one being no exception."

One of the UK’s finest saxophonists, and a member of Chick Corea’s legendary band, Tim Garland has taken the classic Stan Getz album with strings, Focus, from 1961 and created a reworking for our time. This is not a slavish recreation or an attempt at nostalgia, but the result of a creative mind working in the spirit of the album, and with the legacy of a great artist. It’s an exercise in expressing the past in the present and the future.