Linton Garner

[1][2]Linton Garner (March 25, 1915 in Greensboro, North Carolina[3] March 6, 2003 in Vancouver) was a jazz pianist. He was Erroll Garner's older brother. As a youngster he was keener to play cornet than piano, but due to problems with his teeth, was forced to concentrate on the keyboard. From the age of 8 till 10 he had piano lessons, as did his three sisters, unlike his brother Erroll.

He was arranger and pianist with Fletcher Henderson's band before the war, then spent 1943 to 1946 in the army, where he played both piano and trumpet in different bands. Afterwards he was pianist and arranger for a number of distinguished bands including those of Billy Eckstine and Dizzy Gillespie. He also accompanied Sarah Vaughan, Nat King Cole, Carmen McRae and Della Reese. He also composed both melodies and lyrics, including "You're the One For Me." [4]

He moved to Canada in 1963. In 1974, Arni May invited him to Vancouver to accompany him at the opening of the Richmond Inn Hotel. Linton stayed in Vancouver and worked in many venues. He particularly enjoyed 7 years resident pianist at the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. Later (in the 1990s) he was playing in The Three Greenhorns in Vancouver. He also sang and played the piano in Rossini's restaurant in Kitsilano.

  1. Myers, Marc. "Jazz Wax".
  2. Erroll Garner Gems, Volume 1, Number 4 (October 1991). "Two Evenings With Linton Garner".
  3. Barry Kernfeld, ed. (2002). "Garner, Linton (S.)". The new Grove dictionary of jazz, vol. 2 (2nd ed.). New York: Grove's Dictionaries Inc. pp. 15–16. ISBN 1561592846.
  4. Erroll Garner Gems, Volume 1, Number 4 (October 1991). "Two Evenings With Linton Garner".


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