Erroll Garner performing “Penthouse Serenade” with Eddie Calhoun on bass and Kelly Martin on drums live on Jazz 625. From his earliest years, Erroll Garner's relationship with music was defined by an intuitive genius. By four, he was recreating melodies on the piano by ear, soon revealing a photographic memory for sound. He could absorb a lengthy and intricate piece after a single hearing, later performing it with flawless recall. This innate ability meant he never learned to read music, buildin

Dizzy Gillespie said: "Earl Hines changed the style of the piano. You can find the roots of Bud Powell, Herbie Hancock, all the guys who came after that." Erroll Garner said, "When you talk about greatness, you talk about Art Tatum and Earl Hines." Earl Hines changed the sound of jazz piano by thinking beyond the keyboard. His horn-like attack, broken octaves, and rhythmic independence moved the instrument out of stride’s left-hand patterns and into a more modern, elastic language. That approach