Michael Garrick
Encyclopedia
Michael Garrick MBE
(30 May 1933 – 11 November 2011) was an English
jazz
pianist
and composer
, and a pioneer in mixing jazz with poetry recitations.
, and educated at University College, London, from which he graduated in 1959 with a B.A.
in English literature. As a student there he formed his first quartet, featuring vibraphonist Peter Shade. Recordings of this are on HEP (Chronos and Silhouette, released on Gearbox vinyl). Aside from some lessons at the Ivor Mairants School of Dance Music he was "an entirely self-taught musician" (he had been expelled from Eleanor B. Franklin-Pike's piano lessons for quoting from "In the Mood" at a pupils' concert), though he attended Berklee College
, Boston
, as a mature student in the 1970s.
Soon after graduating, Garrick became the musical director of "Poetry & Jazz in Concert", a roadshow devised by poet
and publisher Jeremy Robson, and involving writers as diverse as Laurie Lee
, Adrian Mitchell
, Vernon Scannell
, Spike Milligan
, Dannie Abse
, and John Smith. Garrick's quintet at this time included Joe Harriott
and Shake Keane
. He came to special prominence in the British contemporary jazz world initially as the pianist with the Don Rendell
–Ian Carr
quintet from 1965 to 1969, and led his own sextet from 1966.
Garrick is perhaps best known for his jazz-choral works, the first of which he started in 1967. Jazz Praises, an extended religious work for his sextet and a large choir, was performed at St. Paul's Cathedral in London, and elsewhere. With poet John Smith he produced a series of such works, starting in 1969 with Mr Smith's Apocalypse for sextet, speakers, and chorus, which had its premiere at the Farnham Festival. The culmination of this partnership was A Zodiac of Angels, a choral jazz ballet performed opposite Carmina Burana
under the innovative baton of Victor Fox in the Opera Theatre Manchester in January 1988 and utilising symphony orchestra, 7 jazz soloists including Norma Winstone
, full choir and a dance company. Indian classical music has influenced many of his compositions.
Aside from his performing, recording, and composing, Garrick was heavily involved in jazz education, and held teaching posts at the Royal Academy of Music
and at Trinity College of Music
, London; he continued to teach at summer schools, both for the Guildhall School of Music and on his own Jazz Academy Vacation Courses, from 1989 at Beechwood in Tunbridge Wells. For many years he took his trio into schools presenting interactive events to introduce children to jazz.
His own record label Jazz Academy Records features many albums by his Michael Garrick Jazz Orchestra and has trio, solo, quartet and other small groupings, some including singers Norma Winstone
, Anita Wardell and Jacqui Dankworth
. In 2010 Garrick began a collaboration with vocalist Nette Robinson. At the time of his death he had also begun to develop work with a quartet including vibraphonist Jim Hart, which would have reworked some of the music of the Modern Jazz Quartet and would have provided an echo of his own first quartet, half a century before.
Garrick was appointed MBE in the 2010 Birthday Honours.
Garrick died on 11 November 2011 after suffering heart problems for some years.
Almost all of Garrick's early recordings have been reissued on CD, especially through the Vocalion label.'Moonscape' was reissued in 2007 on Trunk Records. Albums from the 1990s to 2010 appeared mainly on his Jazz Academy label.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(30 May 1933 – 11 November 2011) was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, and a pioneer in mixing jazz with poetry recitations.
Biography
Garrick was born in Enfield, MiddlesexEnfield Town
Enfield Town is the historic town centre of Enfield, formerly in the county of Middlesex and now in the London Borough of Enfield. It is north north-east of Charing Cross...
, and educated at University College, London, from which he graduated in 1959 with a B.A.
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in English literature. As a student there he formed his first quartet, featuring vibraphonist Peter Shade. Recordings of this are on HEP (Chronos and Silhouette, released on Gearbox vinyl). Aside from some lessons at the Ivor Mairants School of Dance Music he was "an entirely self-taught musician" (he had been expelled from Eleanor B. Franklin-Pike's piano lessons for quoting from "In the Mood" at a pupils' concert), though he attended Berklee College
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
, Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, as a mature student in the 1970s.
Soon after graduating, Garrick became the musical director of "Poetry & Jazz in Concert", a roadshow devised by poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and publisher Jeremy Robson, and involving writers as diverse as Laurie Lee
Laurie Lee
Laurence Edward Alan "Laurie" Lee, MBE was an English poet, novelist, and screenwriter, raised in the village of Slad, and went to Marling School, Gloucestershire. His most famous work was an autobiographical trilogy which consisted of Cider with Rosie , As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning and...
, Adrian Mitchell
Adrian Mitchell
Adrian Mitchell FRSL was an English poet, novelist and playwright. A former journalist, he became a noted figure on the British anti-authoritarian Left. For almost half a century he was the foremost poet of the country's anti-Bomb movement...
, Vernon Scannell
Vernon Scannell
Vernon Scannell was a British poet and author. He was at one time a professional boxer, and wrote novels about the sport.-Personal life:Vernon Scannell was born in 1922 in Spilsby, Lincolnshire...
, Spike Milligan
Spike Milligan
Terence Alan Patrick Seán "Spike" Milligan Hon. KBE was a comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright, soldier and actor. His early life was spent in India, where he was born, but the majority of his working life was spent in the United Kingdom. He became an Irish citizen in 1962 after the...
, Dannie Abse
Dannie Abse
Daniel Abse, better known as Dannie Abse , is a Welsh poet.-Early years:Abse was born in Cardiff, Wales to a Jewish family. He is the younger brother of politician and reformer Leo Abse and the eminent psychoanalyst, Wilfred Abse...
, and John Smith. Garrick's quintet at this time included Joe Harriott
Joe Harriott
Joseph Arthurlin 'Joe' Harriott was a Jamaican jazz musician and composer, whose principal instrument was the alto saxophone....
and Shake Keane
Shake Keane
Ellsworth McGranahan “Shake” Keane was a jazz musician, poet and government minister...
. He came to special prominence in the British contemporary jazz world initially as the pianist with the Don Rendell
Don Rendell
Donald Percy 'Don' Rendell is an English jazz musician and arranger, specialising on tenor saxophone, but also playing soprano saxophone, flute, and clarinet....
–Ian Carr
Ian Carr
Ian Carr was a Scottish jazz musician, composer, writer, and educator.-Early years:Carr was born in Dumfries, Scotland, the elder brother of Mike Carr...
quintet from 1965 to 1969, and led his own sextet from 1966.
Garrick is perhaps best known for his jazz-choral works, the first of which he started in 1967. Jazz Praises, an extended religious work for his sextet and a large choir, was performed at St. Paul's Cathedral in London, and elsewhere. With poet John Smith he produced a series of such works, starting in 1969 with Mr Smith's Apocalypse for sextet, speakers, and chorus, which had its premiere at the Farnham Festival. The culmination of this partnership was A Zodiac of Angels, a choral jazz ballet performed opposite Carmina Burana
Carmina Burana
Carmina Burana , Latin for "Songs from Beuern" , is the name given to a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces were written principally in Medieval Latin; a few in Middle High German, and some with traces...
under the innovative baton of Victor Fox in the Opera Theatre Manchester in January 1988 and utilising symphony orchestra, 7 jazz soloists including Norma Winstone
Norma Winstone
Norma Ann Winstone MBE is a British jazz singer and lyricist. In a career spanning over forty years she is best known for her wordless improvisations....
, full choir and a dance company. Indian classical music has influenced many of his compositions.
Aside from his performing, recording, and composing, Garrick was heavily involved in jazz education, and held teaching posts at the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
and at Trinity College of Music
Trinity College of Music
Trinity College of Music is one of the London music conservatories, based in Greenwich. It is part of Trinity Laban.The conservatoire is inheritor of elegant riverside buildings of the former Greenwich Hospital, designed in part by Sir Christopher Wren...
, London; he continued to teach at summer schools, both for the Guildhall School of Music and on his own Jazz Academy Vacation Courses, from 1989 at Beechwood in Tunbridge Wells. For many years he took his trio into schools presenting interactive events to introduce children to jazz.
His own record label Jazz Academy Records features many albums by his Michael Garrick Jazz Orchestra and has trio, solo, quartet and other small groupings, some including singers Norma Winstone
Norma Winstone
Norma Ann Winstone MBE is a British jazz singer and lyricist. In a career spanning over forty years she is best known for her wordless improvisations....
, Anita Wardell and Jacqui Dankworth
Jacqui Dankworth
Jacqui Dankworth is a British jazz singer. She is the daughter of the jazz musician, arranger and composer Sir John Dankworth and the singer Dame Cleo Laine.-Career:...
. In 2010 Garrick began a collaboration with vocalist Nette Robinson. At the time of his death he had also begun to develop work with a quartet including vibraphonist Jim Hart, which would have reworked some of the music of the Modern Jazz Quartet and would have provided an echo of his own first quartet, half a century before.
Garrick was appointed MBE in the 2010 Birthday Honours.
Garrick died on 11 November 2011 after suffering heart problems for some years.
As leader
- 1959: Blues for the Lonelyw/Joe Harriott, Shake Keane & poet Jeremy Robson EP Columbia
- 1959: Kronos Ist Quartet w/Peter Shade, Paul Hemmings and Brian Barnes LP HEP
- 1963:A Case of Jazz
- 1963: Poetry and Jazz in Concert
- 1964: October Woman
- 1964: Moonscape
- 1965: Promises
- 1966: Before Night/Day
- 1966: Black Marigolds
- 1968: Jazz Praises at St Paul's
- 1969: Poetry and Jazz 250
- 1970: The Heart Is a Lotus
- 1971: Mr Smith's Apocalypse
- 1972: Home Stretch Blues
- 1972: Cold Mountain
- 1973: Troppo
- 1978: You've Changedw/Don Weller, Chris Lawrence and Alan Jackson
- 1993: A Lady in Waiting
- 1994: Meteors Close at Hand
- 1995: Parting Is Such
- 1995–96: For Love of Duke... and Ronnie
- 1999: Down on Your Knees
- 2000: Genius
- 2001: The New Quartet
- 2002: Green and Pleasant Land
- 2003: Peter Pan Jazz Dance Suite
- 2004: Big Band Harriott
- 2005: Children Of Time
- 2007: Inspirations
- 2007: Yet Another Spring
- 2008: Introducing Mick Garrett-GIGS
- 2009: Lady of the Aurian Wood-a magic life of Duke
- 2010: Tone Poems
Almost all of Garrick's early recordings have been reissued on CD, especially through the Vocalion label.'Moonscape' was reissued in 2007 on Trunk Records. Albums from the 1990s to 2010 appeared mainly on his Jazz Academy label.
With the Rendell–Carr Quintet
- 1965: Dusk Fire
- 1968: Phase III
- 1968: Live
- 1969: Change Is
Compositions
- Praises: a miscellany of religious texts and images for jazz group, organ, and chorus. Recorded in 1965: Simon PrestonSimon PrestonSimon John Preston CBE is an English organist, conductor, and composer.- Early life :He attended the Canford School in Wimborne in Dorset. Originally a chorister at King's College, Cambridge, he studied the organ with C. H...
(organ), Louis Halsey's Elizabethan Singers, and jazz quintet with Joe Harriott (alto saxAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
) and Shake Keane (trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
)
- Mr Smith's Apocalypse: cantata (poems by John Smith). Commission from Farnham Festival, 1969. Same forces as Praises, plus readers. Recorded in 1970 with the Garrick septet.
- Judas Kiss: the Passion of Christ. Text compiled from the four gospels. Commission from Nottingham Festival, 1971. Same forces as Mr Smith's Apocalypse, with string orchestra added in 1990. Not commercially recorded.
- A Hobbit Suite or Gemstones: suite based on J.R.R. Tolkien The HobbitThe HobbitThe Hobbit, or There and Back Again, better known by its abbreviated title The Hobbit, is a fantasy novel and children's book by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published on 21 September 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald...
, in nine sections. Commission from Mersey Arts, 1973 for jazz sextet, including the voice of Norma WinstoneNorma WinstoneNorma Ann Winstone MBE is a British jazz singer and lyricist. In a career spanning over forty years she is best known for her wordless improvisations....
. Later expanded for jazz orchestra. Recorded in 1994 (selections from expanded version).
- Jazz Portraits: an ongoing project from 1975, depicting fugures from jazz such as Duke EllingtonDuke EllingtonEdward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
, John ColtraneJohn ColtraneJohn William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
, Dizzy GillespieDizzy GillespieJohn Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
, McCoy TynerMcCoy TynerMcCoy Tyner is a jazz pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and a long solo career.-Early life:...
, Thelonious MonkThelonious MonkThelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
, and Bill EvansBill EvansWilliam John Evans, known as Bill Evans was an American jazz pianist. His use of impressionist harmony, inventive interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, and trademark rhythmically independent, "singing" melodic lines influenced a generation of pianists including: Chick Corea, Herbie...
; for large and small ensembles.
- Underground Streams: an after-death soliloquy, with interludes from angels and other heavenly beings. Based on Rudolf SteinerRudolf SteinerRudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist. He gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher...
's 1912 lecture-cycle Life between Death and Rebirth. Commission from the Jazz Centre Society, London, 1978. Forces: voice, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, and piano. First performance at South Bank Centre, June 1978 with Norma Winstone (voice), Phil Lee (guitar), and Garrick (piano). Not commercially recorded; broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
- Hardy Country: suite for small or large ensemble, with or without vocal part; in nine self-contained movements, plus three poem settings for speaker. Commission from South-West Arts and Eldridge PopeEldridge PopeEldridge Pope was a traditional brewery situated in Dorchester, Dorset in England. The brewery opened in 1881. Royal Oak and Hardy's were amongst the beers brewed there. Following a series of calamitous business decisions, the brewery closed in July 2003...
, brewers, of Dorchester. First performance June 1990 in the Thomas Hardy Hall by jazz quartet with Norma Winstone. Later expanded for jazz orchestra. Selections of expnaded version recorded in 1994.
- A Zodiac of Angels: suite of twelve pieces, depicting the situation and function of twelve heavenly beings as defined in A Dictionary of Angels by Gustav DavidsonGustav DavidsonGustav Davidson was a poet, writer, and publisher.Davidson attended Columbia University in New York City and worked for the Library of Congress.-Works:...
; selected and turned into verse by John Smith. Commission from Manchester Education Authority for symphony orchestra, six jazz instrumental soloists, jazz singer, chorus, and soloists. First performance at Royal Northern College of Music Opera Theatre, January 1988 in a fully staged (dance) version.
- The Royal Box: suite in nine movements based on phrases connected with royalty (e.g., "The Old Pretender", "The Royal Prerogative", "A Lady in Waiting", etc.). Inspired by the media treatment of the British Royal Family, in particular Prince Charles and Princess Diana. In two versions: piano/bass/drums trio and jazz orchestra. Trio version recorded complete; selections of jazz-orchestra version recorded.
- Bovingdon Poppies: oratorio of poem "Bovingdon Poppies" (a poem by Eva Travers), for chorus, soloists, jazz sextet, and string orchestra. First performance: Remembrance Day, November 1993.
External links
- Michael Garrick selected works at Jazzscript
- Michael Garrick discography at Jazzscript
- Michael Garrick Interview with Dennis Harrison at Jazzscript, March 2003
- Michael Garrick on BBC Radio 3BBC Radio 3BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
Jazz Legends programme, presented by Julian JosephJulian JosephJulian Joseph is a jazz pianist, bandleader, composer, arranger and broadcaster. Joseph has worked solo, in his all-star big band, trio, quartet, forum project band or electric band....
, 1 July 2005