Erroll Garner

He never had formal lessons or learned to read music, teaching himself to play everything by ear, but that didn't prevent Erroll Garner from becoming one of jazz music's most revered and distinctive pianists and composers, responsible for writing the classic track 'Misty'. The youngest of a musical family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he first started playing piano at the age of three and swiftly became an accomplished musician, with an instinctive, individual style, amazing everyone from a young age with his ability to hear a piece of music once and play it perfectly. His family felt formal lessons would curb his natural flair and unusual individuality and his unique style was soon recognised - he was playing on a local radio station by the age of seven with a group called the Candy Kids ( also featuring his elder brother Linton, who also went on to become a highly regarded pianist) and was performing on riverboats by the time he was 11.

Erroll dropped out of high school to join the Leroy Brown Orchestra as he learned to play novelty rag from listening to old 78" records. Moving to New York in 1939 he became accompanist to night club singer Ann Lewis and went on to join the Slam Stewart Trio while meeting other great pianists like George Shearing and Billy Taylor. He made his first recordings in 1944, had a hit with 'Laura' in '46, backed Charlie Parker on his famous 'Cool Blues' sessions in '47 and wrote a string of much-loved jazz pieces, topped by 'Misty', which later featured heavily in the 1971 Clint Eastwood movie 'Play Misty for Me'.

His easy style gave him great popularity beyond the jazz genre and he was a productive artist, once reputed to have recorded three LPs in a single day. He was still at the height of his powers when he was diagnosed with lung cancer and died in 1977 at the age of 53. However, his influence has continued with frequent reissues and the discovery of previously unreleased material, like 'Ready Take One' on Sony in 2016.