Swashbuckler (Erroll Garner)

Abstract Conversation with a clerk at a megastore, May 2003: “Do you carry a DVD of Erroll Garner?” “Oh, I know that, it’s like, um, adventures of Erroll Garner, right?” “Uh, I don’t think so, I think it’s something like Erroll Garner in concert.” “No, my boyfriend showed it to me. He, like, fights pirates and stuff, right?” “Excuse me?” “What kind of movie is it?” “He’s a jazz musician. It’s a concert film.” “Oh, right. I’m thinking of Errol Flynn.” Actually, it’s called Erroll Garner in Performance, and consists of two 35-minute sets taped in 1964 for the BBC series Jazz 625. In fairness, Garner’s attack does indicate a swashbuckling fortitude, a piratical confidence, an adventurer’s audacity. Still, not long ago—OK, 25 years ago—every record store clerk in the nation knew Erroll from Errol, simply because of the volume of records he moved, as suggested by an earlier teˆte-a`-teˆte. Having first encountered Garner at a 1964 concert in Queens, I had bicycled the next morning to a record store and looked in vain for a Garner bin or, failing that, Garner albums in the miscellaneous G section. I asked an employee, “Is it possible you don’t have a single record by Erroll Garner?”