Red Garland Still Had Plenty Left
Recorded in 1979, this is Garland proving he hadn't lost a thing.
Red Garland spent much of the 1970s in relative seclusion back in Dallas, stepping away from the recording scene he had dominated in the late 1950s. So Stepping Out (1981) carries a certain weight just by existing — it's a comeback record in the most literal sense, made by a pianist who many listeners had assumed was simply gone. Recorded in 1979 and released on the Galaxy label in 1981, the album finds Garland doing exactly what he always did well: laying down that immediately recognizable block-chord style, keeping the swing loose and comfortable, and making the whole thing sound easy in a way that it absolutely is not.
Garland's playing here isn't trying to catch up with the times. By 1979, fusion had come and gone and post-bop had reshaped what jazz piano could mean, but Garland sounds completely unbothered by any of that. He plants himself firmly in the hard bop and mainstream swing tradition he helped define during his years with the Miles Davis Quintet, and the result is a record that feels settled rather than stale. That's a real distinction. He's not ignoring the decades that passed — he's just not interested in apologizing for who he is.
If you already love Garland's work on the Prestige records from the late 1950s, this will feel immediately familiar and genuinely satisfying. If you're coming to him fresh, this is actually a decent starting point — the playing is relaxed, the touch is clean, and there's nothing demanding about it in an off-putting way. It's a solid late-career record from a pianist who earned his reputation honestly and hadn't forgotten how to deliver.
