Bass Player: Jimmy Garrison
Garrison was raised in both Miami and Philadelphia where he learned to play bass. 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. Between 1957 and 1962, 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. In 1961, he recorded with Ornette Coleman, appearing on Coleman’s albums Ornette on Tenor and The Art of the Improvisers. He also worked with Walter Bishop, Jr. and Cal Massey during the early years of his career.
He formally joined Coltrane’s quartet in 1962, replacing Workman. The long trio blues “Chasin’ the Trane” is one of his first recorded performances with Coltrane and Elvin Jones. Garrison performed on many Coltrane recordings, including A Love Supreme. After John Coltrane’s death, Garrison worked and recorded with Alice Coltrane, Hampton Hawes, Archie Shepp, Clifford Thornton and groups led by Elvin Jones.[3]
He and Elvin Jones recorded with Coleman in 1968, and have been credited with eliciting more forceful playing than usual from Coleman on the albums New York Is Now! and Love Call.
In 1971 and 1972, Garrison taught as a Visiting Artist at Wesleyan University and Bennington College.
The attached transcription is not a showcase for Garrison’s playing but rather a relatively simple ballad featuring root note and not a great deal more. The intermittent passing phrases are almost all the same rhythmic pattern and amount to classic passing notes down or up to the next root. Wonderfully understated and a perfect example of why you don’t have to be Dave Holland to play double bass in Jazz. The tune is ‘Violet For Your Furs’ from saxophonist J.R. Monterose’s 1960 album, ‘The Message’. The arco sections can be played pizzicato if you are not comfortable using a bow.