Time travel. If you could go back in time to meet one person of your choosing, who would it be? Maybe someone who was part of creating something of immeasurable lasting value? Perhaps someone whose work we know, but whose thoughts and values, the sound of their voice, remain obscure.
Bassist Jimmy Garrison joined John Coltrane’s quartet in 1962, and Coltrane kept him by his side to the saxophonist’s last days. He’s the bassist on Coltrane’s “Live at the Village Vanguard” and “A Love Supreme” (not to mention “Ornette on Tenor,” Alice Coltrane’s “Universal Consciousness,” and dozens more). His bandmates, McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones, lived long lives and were interviewed extensively. But Garrison, who died decades before McCoy or Elvin, had rarely sat for interviews. The existing available moments of his direct insights are vanishingly few.
But there is one comprehensive interview that we know of. Jimmy Garrison came to the WKCR studios in 1971, and he spilled the tea. This Monday on Mitch Goldman’s Deep Focus, we will air this rare, precious document from the archives. And the guest who made this selection? None other than Jimmy’s son, bassist Matthew Garrison, an enormously respected bandleader, sideman, and impresario at his ShapeShifter Lab in Brooklyn.
This Monday (10/12) from 6p to 9p NYC time on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR-HD or wkcr.org,
Or join us when it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.
Find out more about Deep Focus at https://mitchgoldman.com/
Photo credit: Jimmy Garrison and son Matthew, New York, 1971 © Valerie Wilmer. This photo was used on the cover of Val Wilmer’s book, “As Serious As Your Life.” This book belongs in the collection of every fan of Deep Focus!
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