Red Garland
Piano Solo on
Oleo

About

Red Garland's piano solo is the third of four solos on this recording, following John Coltrane on tenor sax. Spanning two choruses of the 32-bar AABA form in B♭ at a blazing 264 BPM with a swing feel, Garland contributes two hard-swinging piano choruses, and Davis returns for two additional trumpet choruses before Philly Joe Jones trades fours with the ensemble. "Oleo" is a contrafact built on the chord changes of "I Got Rhythm," requiring the soloist to navigate a familiar harmonic framework with a different melodic identity.

Red Garland was 32 to 33 years old at the time.