1. James Emory Garrison was an American jazz double bassist.
15 Facts About Jimmy Garrison
1. 2.
Jimmy Garrison is best remembered for his association with John Coltrane from 1961 to 1967.
3.
Jimmy Garrison was born in Miami, Florida, and moved when he was 10 to Philadelphia, where he learned to play bass during his senior year of high school.
4.
Jimmy Garrison came of age in the 1950s Philadelphia jazz scene, which included fellow bassists Reggie Workman and Henry Grimes, pianist McCoy Tyner and trumpeter Lee Morgan.
5.
Jimmy Garrison was in a short-lived trio started by Bill Evans, with Kenny Dennis on drums, in the 1950s.
6.
Between 1957 and 1962, Jimmy Garrison played and recorded with trumpeter Kenny Dorham; clarinetist Tony Scott; drummer Philly Joe Jones; and saxophonists Bill Barron, Lee Konitz, and Jackie McLean, as well as Curtis Fuller, Benny Golson, Lennie Tristano, and Pharoah Sanders, among others.
7.
In 1961, Jimmy Garrison recorded with Ornette Coleman, appearing on Coleman's albums Ornette on Tenor and The Art of the Improvisers.
8.
Jimmy Garrison formally joined Coltrane's quartet in 1962, replacing Workman.
9.
Jimmy Garrison performed on many Coltrane recordings, including A Love Supreme.
10.
Jimmy Garrison worked with Ornette Coleman during the 1960s, first recording with him in 1961 on Ornette on Tenor.
11.
In 1971 and 1972, Jimmy Garrison taught as a Visiting Artist at Wesleyan University and Bennington College.
12.
Jimmy Garrison died of lung cancer on April 7,1976.
13.
Jimmy Garrison was known for his inventive and melodic basslines, often using broken time and avoiding straight quarter notes as in a traditional walking bassline, to suggest the time and pulse rather than to outright play it.
14.
Jimmy Garrison was known for his frequent use of double stops, and for strumming the strings of the bass with his thumb.
15.
Jimmy Garrison had a uniquely heavy and powerful gut string tone.