Erroll Garner - Campus Concert, 1964 MGM_ Feeling is Believing, 1969 MPS (Telarc RE-ISSUE)

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Review by Jim Newsom

This two-fer from the Telarc label's Archive series brings together two fine but unrelated albums from jazz piano legend Erroll Garner. Campus Concert was recorded in the spring of 1964 at Purdue University, and shows the affinity Garner shared with his student audience in the days when jazz was considered cooler on campus than the dominant teenage-oriented rock & roll. The set list for this live performance is mostly standards, done in Garner's unique barrelhouse-meets-piano-bar style. Feeling is Believing was released in 1970, and reflects the influence of the contemporary pop music of the time, with covers of For Once in My Life, Yesterday, Spinning Wheel and The Look of Love mixed in with five originals and Strangers in the Night. The material on this half of the disc is more adventurous and consequently more interesting than the earlier live tracks. Here, Garner's usual trio setting is augmented by percussionist Jose Mangual, whose congas add a spicy rhythmic touch to the proceedings. Paisley Eyes and You Turned Me Around are especially intriguing originals, while Mood Island floats across a pleasantly relaxed Latin groove.

1 (Back Home Again In) Indiana [live] Hanley, MacDonald 2'58
2 Stardust [live] Carmichael, Parish 4'52
3 Mambo Erroll [live] Garner 2'20
4 Lulu's Back in Town [live] Dubin, Warren 4'29
5 Almost Like Being in Love [live] Lerner, Loewe 4'11
6 My Funny Valentine [live] Hart, Rodgers 5'25
7 These Foolish Things [live] Link, Marvell, Strachey 5'26
8 In the Still of the Night [live] Porter 3'34
9 For Once in My Life Miller, Murden 3'22
10 Yesterday Lennon, McCartney 3'05
11 Strangers in the Night Kaempfert, Singleton, Snyder 3'44
12 Feeling Is Believing Garner 2'39
13 Paisley Eyes Garner 2'58
14 Spinning Wheel Clayton-Thomas 3'27
15 The Loving Touch Garner 5'38
16 The Look of Love Bacharach, David 2'40
17 You Turned Me Around Garner 5'48
18 Mood Island Garner 4'35

Lp cover: Feeling is Believing (MPS 15294)