Through the eyes of those who were close to him, MISTY approaches one of jazz’s greatest mysteries: who was the man behind the ever-friendly smile?
DIRECTOR’S NOTE
The idol of my youth
I have been playing the piano since I was a child, because our father put me and my sisters on the piano at a very early age, classical music of course, as it should be in a good home in Paris. Later, in the seventies, we discovered jazz: Oscar Peterson, Stan Getz, Rhoda Scott. But at home we were only allowed to play Mozart or Bach: we played jazz in secret. One day our father found our jazz records and broke them. As Erroll Garner died, i almost had the feeling to have lost a brother.
Sometime later I discovered a pianist who became the greatest for me and whose elegant, easy and natural virtuoso playing I still love and admire today: Erroll Garner, the idol of my youth. Garner was one of the most ingenious pianists of the 20th century, a celebrated artist who was world-famous in his lifetime and who performed in the largest and most important concert halls of the world.
But it became strangely quiet around Erroll Garner and today he is almost forgotten. While names like Miles Davies, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk or John Coltrane are still on everyone‘s lips and are rightly celebrated as revolutionaries of jazz, Garner is far less present in the history of jazz. Miles Davis and John Coltrane became identification figures of the black civil rights movement because they represented the dignity and quality of black culture: I am black and I am proud. Their liberation from the swing era dominated by white big bands was an act of reappropriation of their own black music.
Garner did not belong to this world. He was a loner. A shooting star out of the system. Much later I started making documentaries, films about music in the first place, in which I was able to bring together my two interests and inclinations, the image and the sound. Very early on I had the wish to make a film about Erroll Garner. In 2003, I met James Doran, Erroll Garner‘s biographer, in New York and contacted Martha Glaser, Garner‘s manager. But it was probably too early, nothing came of it, I was probably not ready. Brazilian music captivated me for sixteen years and four films. But I always knew that sooner or later I would make the film about Garner. Because Garner, that is my story. The story of the young Gachot, who was not allowed to play jazz, who sobbingly looked at Erroll Garner‘s records, broken by his father. A circle closes, the time is ripe, the film is ready.
Our adventure following in the footsteps of Erroll Garner has brought us face-to-face with living witnesses who knew him personally, despite his passing 47 years ago. Our story is told exclusively by people who were close to Erroll Garner and who help us to relive the importance of his music and uncover hidden facets of his private life.
The Protagonists :
• Drummer Jimmie Smith, performed with Garner form 1967 until 1974.
• Bassist Ernest McCarty, performed with Garner form 1970 until 1974.
• Bassist Brian Torff, accompanied Garner on his last US tour in February 1975 and performed with him during his very last set at Mister Kelly’s Club in Chicago. That very last performance was recorded by the mother of Brian Torff.
• Jim Doran, Erroll Garner’s biographer and friend.
• Kim Garner, Erroll Garner’s secret daughter, who was never recognized as such. Kim was 5 years old when her mother separate from Erroll Garner.
• Rosalyn Noisette, Erroll Garner’s partner during the last six years of his life. Garner died in Rosalyn’s arms on January 2nd, 1977 in their apartment in Los Angeles.
• Thelma Spencer, aunt of Erroll Garner’s last partner, Rosalyn Noisette.
• Martha Glaser, Erroll Garner’s manager from 1950 until his death in 1977.
• Journalist and producer Dan Morgenstern knew personaly Erroll garner and was a good friend of Garner’s manager, Martha Glaser.
• Gil Nobel, African American journalist, famous for his TV show „Like it is“ in which he interviewed major figures like Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Fannie Lou Hamer or Paul Robeson.
Furthermore, we have the special musical participation of Norwegian Star trumpet player, Nils Petter Molvaer (Photo bellow)
The film, shot entirely in the USA, took us to Pittsburgh (Pensilvania), Erroll Garner’s hometown, New York, New Jersey, Guilford (CT), Las Vegas, Los Angeles or Carmel by the Sea, where the famous album „Concert by the Sea“ was recorded in September 1955.
CINEMA RELEASE SWITZERLAND 26/12/2024
Avant-Premiere
with Filmmaker Georges Gachot &
Trumpet Player Nils-Petter Molvaer
2.12 Zürich, Moods, Solo concert of soundtrack composer of the film Nils-Petter Molvaer.
3.12 Zürich, Riff Raff (18h20)
4.12 Fribourg, Korso (18h30)
5.12 Genève, Bio Carouge (20h)
Special Guest: Jim Doran, Erroll Garner’s Biographer
8.12 Chur, Kino (17h)
14.12 Sainte Croix (Jura) 18h
15.12 Cycle Cinéma passion
– Delémont (10h)
– La Chaux-de-Fonds (12h)
– Neuchâtel (15h)
16.12 Bern, Kino Rex (20h)
17.12 Lucern, Bourbaki (18h10)
18.12 St. Gallen, Kinok (20h)
21.12. Schaffhausen, Kiwi Scala, 17h
2025
5.1 , Biel, Cinevital, Matinee (10h)
SELECTION Of ALBUMS
MARTHA ARGERICH, ERROLL GARNER AND ME
It was a wonderful surprise when Martha Argerich, the legendary Argentinian pianist, told me about her fascination for Erroll Garner’s music. We were shooting the film Evening Talks in 2002 about her, and in the middle of our conversation about Schumann, Chopin and Beethoven, the subject of Erroll Garner suddenly came up. Since my childhood Erroll Garner has always been the greatest Jazz pianist for me and to be able to share that passion with Martha Argerich was a revelation. Twenty years later Misty now provides an answer to the Evening talks back then and my desire to share with a wider public, the music and the unknown life story of this musical genius.
Martha Argerich speaks about Erroll Garner in „Evening Talks“, by Georges Gachot, 2003
FILM FESTIVALS PAST & FUTURE
MÜNICH, SÃO PAULO, RIO DE JANEIRO, PRAGUES, COLOGNE, BARCELONA, LAUSANNE, FINLAND…
To be presented at ROKUMENTTI Rock Film Festival, November 2024, Finland
Sold-Out Screening 20/10/2024
PRESSE
ESTADAO DE SAO PAULO (Luis Carlos Merten)•
Numa era em que a cor é praticamente obrigatória, vários filmes estão voltando ao PB como opção estética e narrativa… O doc sobre o jazzista Erroll Garner – Misty-, de Georges Gachot. O mais brasileiro – carioca? – dos documentaristas mundiais, Gachot fez talvez seu doc mais belo. O PB é fundamental. Aguarde para conferir, será distribuído pela Imovision.
English traduction:
In an era when colour is practically compulsory, several films are turning to Black/White as an aesthetic and narrative option like the doc about jazzman Erroll Garner – Misty – by Georges Gachot. The most Brazilian – Carioca? – of the world’s documentary makers, Gachot has made perhaps his most beautiful doc. BW is essential. Wait and see, it will be distributed by Imovision.
C7NEMA (Rodrigo Fonseca)•
Gravada originalmente em 1954, “Misty” virou a banda sonora de muitos amores e inspirou até filmes de culto, o que deu ao seu idealizador, o pianista Erroll Garner (1921-1977), lugar entre os autores dos grandes standards do jazz nos EUA. Há, entretanto, um lado doloroso na sua trajetória pessoal e profissional do qual pouco se sabe e que levou o documentarista franco-suíço Geoges Gachot a retratar a sua vida num exercício biográfico regado de poesia. Entusiasta da música popular brasileira, como se nota em filmes como “Onde Está Você, João Gilberto“, de 2018, e “Maria Bethania: Música É Perfume“, de 2005), o realizador lança no Festival do Rio “Misty – A História de Erroll Garner“. A narrativa revê situações conturbadas do compositor com o empresário, com amores e com a própria filha. O recorte histórico revive o intenso período pós-guerra dos Estados Unidos, entre o boom do consumo e a Guerra do Vietname.
Numa conversa com o C7nema no Armazém da Utopia, sede do Festival do Rio, Gachot mapeia o eixo estético da música na sua produção.
Intrevista integral: https://c7nema.net/entrevistas/item/129053-georges-gachot-nos-acordes-de-misty.html
Shortlisted for competition
PREMIERE @ Deutsches Theater, Mai 5th, 2024
with film director Georges Gachot, Jim Doran, Erroll Garner’s Biograph and a musical performance of Bassist Ernest McCarty with star trumpet player Nils-Petter Molvaer. Also on stage, DOP Filip Zumbrunn, Editor Vincent Pluss, Sound mixer Tilo Ehmann and the German coproducers, Harry Flöter, Jörg Siepmann, Jamila Wenske, Melanie Bolocksdorf. (Photos © DOK.fest München/ Phil Strüning)
The crew member in Munich: DOP Filip Zumbrunn, Sound Mixer (one of 2) Tilo Ehmann, Editor (one of 4) Vincent Pluss. Producers, Jamila Wenske, Melanie Blocksdorf, Harry Flöter, Jörg Siepmann and Georges Gachot.
JAZZ THING (Martin Laurentius)•
Link to the original German – English translation below.
Throughout his life, Erroll Garner (1921-1977) was a phenomenon. He began playing the piano at the age of three. Some of his older siblings had formal piano lessons, but Garner immediately played everything he heard them play. He never learnt to read music; his highly virtuoso piano playing, which later made him one of the style-defining jazz pianists in the history of this originally African-American music, was always intuitive and followed only his ear. He was able to use his left and right hand independently of each other. This enabled him to play low bass notes with his left hand in counterpoint to powerful chords with his right hand – often set against each other polyrhythmically. He was famous for his art of improvisation, which was both casually swinging and rhapsodically expansive. Garner laughed the whole time – as if even the most technically difficult passages were easy for him.
The French-Swiss filmmaker Georges Gachot has been intensively researching the life and work of this jazz piano legend for some time and has produced an exciting and interesting film documentary about Garner, „Misty – The Erroll Garner Story“. Gachot has delved into a number of archives, not just those of US television stations, and has unearthed some unknown film footage of these pianists. If you look at these clips and see how Garner flies over the keys with a smile, how he looks at the camera in a friendly manner and casually gives interviews with his left hand in his trouser pocket, you get an impression of the charisma of this man, who is just 1.57 metres tall.
Garner has kept his private life largely secret. However, Gachot has managed to speak to the pianist’s partner and daughter, who paint a very mixed picture of this internationally successful musician. He also managed to get many companions in front of the camera – and also found footage with Garner’s long-time manager Martha Glaser, who not only ensured that her client became one of the best-selling jazz musicians of his time, but also that he was successful in his legal dispute against Columbia Records and that his concerts in the USA in the 1950s and ’60s were not subject to segregation. On 5 May, „Misty – The Erroll Garner Story“ celebrates its world premiere at DOK.fest Munich in the Deutsches Theater.
Brazilian Premiere on the anniversary date of Erroll Garner, June 15th with filmdirector Georges Gachot and Jim Doran, Erroll Garner’s Biograph.
(Photos © In-Edit Divulgação/ R2PRESS /Gachot Films)
FOHLA DE SAO PAULO (André Barcinski)•
(June 12, 2024)
Pianista Erroll Garner, um dos maiores do jazz, tem filme no festival In-Edit
Documentário repassa a carreira do músico americano, autor de ‚Misty‘ e que conquistou grande sucesso comercial e de público
Quando o cineasta João Moreira Salles perguntou ao pianista Nelson Freire se tinha alguma frustração, o músico respondeu: „Eu tenho uma inveja incrível de quem sabe tocar jazz“. „Uma coisa que eu adoraria seria chegar assim e, de repente, improvisar. Eu tenho fascinação pelo Erroll Garner.“
No documentário „Nelson Freire“, de 2003, dirigido por Salles, o pianista aparece sentado no sofá, assistindo, embevecido, a uma antiga apresentação de Garner na TV. „Eu nunca vi ninguém tocar com tanto prazer. Ele tinha a alegria de tocar“, disse Freire.
A alegria que Freire sentia com a música de Erroll Garner é uma sensação constante ao assistir a „Misty – The Erroll Garner Story“, documentário dirigido pelo francês Georges Gachot sobre o icônico pianista norte-americano Erroll Garner (1921-1977).
O filme será exibido no Cinesesc, em São Paulo, dentro do festival de documentários musicais In-Edit, que começa nesta quarta (12). A exibição é no próximo sábado (15), data de nascimento de Garner.
A sessão terá a presença do diretor, Georges Gachot, e do escritor e biógrafo James M. Doran, autor do livro „The Most Happy Piano“, ou o piano mais feliz, que serviu de base para o documentário. Uma segunda sessão acontece na Cinemateca Brasileira, na quinta (20), às 18h.
O título do documentário cita „Misty“, um „standard“ do jazz e certamente a canção mais popular escrita por Garner. Diferentemente de muitos artistas famosos do jazz que sofreram durante a carreira com a falta de reconhecimento do público, Garner sempre fez sucesso de crítica e venda. Seus discos vendiam muito e ele foi, durante muito tempo, um dos jazzistas mais bem pagos do mundo.
Garner era um tipo peculiar —baixinho, com 1,57 metro, autodidata e improvisador. Foi o caçula de seis filhos de uma família pobre de Pittsburgh, no estado da Pensilvânia, e aprendeu piano sozinho. Numa antiga entrevista mostrada no filme, Garner conta que um professor de piano foi à casa da família dar aula para um irmão. O pequeno Erroll ouviu a aula e imediatamente começou a tocar.
Garner nunca aprendeu a ler partituras e se dizia pouco preocupado com a técnica. Seu negócio era o sentimento que a música transmitia. Recusava-se a ensaiar com seus grupos. Nos shows, não havia repertório definido. Ele sentava ao piano e começava a tocar o que lhe dava na telha.
„No início era bem assustador“, diz no filme um contrabaixista que tocou por anos com Garner. „A gente tinha de ficar de olho nele e sair correndo atrás. Com o tempo, nos acostumamos.“ A obsessão pelo improviso era tamanha que Erroll Garner não definia anteriormente o repertório sequer na gravação de seus discos. „Houve uma sessão em que Erroll gravou o suficiente para três LPs inteiros“, diz uma antiga namorada.
Georges Gachot diz que conheceu a música de Garner quando era criança e começou a aprender piano. „Meu irmão Pierre e eu éramos loucos pelos discos de Garner“, conta o cineasta, que dedicou o filme ao irmão. Para Gachot, Garner representa a total liberdade criativa do jazz.
„Ele era um artista que botava todo o sentimento, tudo que pensava, em sua música“, diz Gachot. „Ele não era um artista que revelava muito em entrevistas, mas quem ouvia seus concertos percebia o que ele estava sentindo“.
Há uma reveladora entrevista de Garner no filme em que o apresentador pergunta se ele havia sofrido, na carreira, algum tipo de racismo, e Garner diz que não. A declaração de Garner é contestada por vários depoimentos de parceiros e familiares, que relatam inúmeros casos em que o artista teria sido vítima de preconceitos.
„Quando você queria saber como Erroll estava se sentindo, era só ouvir a maneira como ele tocava em determinada noite. Havia noites em que ele estava muito feliz e outras em que você sentia a melancolia saindo de dentro dele“, afirma um músico.
Gachot é um obcecado por música brasileira que já fez filmes sobre Maria Bethânia, Nana Caymmi e João Gilberto, mas diz que „já pode morrer“ depois de terminar um filme sobre Garner, seu grande ídolo.
E depois de Garner, será que Gachot não pensa em filmar a vida de outro artista brasileiro? „Eu adoraria fazer algo com o Djavan, amo a música dele. Vou a Belo Horizonte ver um show de Djavan e espero que algo bom aconteça.“
Kazimiezr Dolny (Polen)
Georges Gachot with festival director Grazyna Torbicka
