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Saturday, March 15, 2003

By Nate Guidry, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Linton Garner, an accomplished jazz pianist and older brother of the late jazz pianist Erroll Garner, died March 6 of kidney failure. He was 87.

Mr. Garner's son, Linton Jr., said his father was admitted to a hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia, a few days before his death.

Mr. Garner, who grew up in East Liberty, had lived in Canada since 1964, where he played in clubs and lounges and was the house pianist at Rossini's restaurant in Vancouver.

"He was one of the oldest living musicians still performing in Canada," said Arni May, owner of Rossini's. May, a drummer, hired Mr. Garner to work at his restaurant in the early 1990s. "I've known him since the early 1960s when we worked together in Ottawa."

In 1974, Mr. Garner moved to Vancouver and for a time lived with May and his family.

"I had a wife, three kids and two cats ..." May said. "Linton made it clear he was not a fan of cats."

One of six siblings, Mr. Garner began studying piano at 8. He later switched to trumpet, only to return to the piano because of dental problems.

After traveling in the 1930s with the Larry Steele Revue, Mr. Garner moved to Rochester, N.Y., and later to Buffalo.

In the early 1940s, he toured with Fletcher Henderson's band until the Army came calling. Following his military service, he wrote arrangements and performed with Billy Eckstine. Later, he recorded with Earl Coleman, Fats Navarro, Una Mae Carlisle and others. "Minor Walk" and "Duff Capers," two compositions by Mr. Garner, have become part of the big band repertoire.

Mr. Garner also provided accompaniment for comedian Timmie Rogers and dancer Teddy Hale.

"He was a wonderful piano player," said longtime friend and Pittsburgh musician Carl Arter. "He had great sense of harmony, and if you played the horn you really appreciated what he did. He understood how to accompany people, [and] perhaps that came from him playing the trumpet earlier on."

In 1959, Mr. Garner made his debut as a leader when he recorded "Garner Plays Garner," a trio recording that also featured bassist Al Hall and drummer Jimmy Crawford.

In 1964, Mr. Garner and his family moved to Montreal, where he went to work at Rockhead's Paradise, a well-known jazz club in the city.

"It was the hot spot for jazz," said his son Linton Jr., from his home in Montreal. "It was a place for the social elite and the black community to come and experience jazz."

In addition to Linton Jr., Mr. Garner is survived by his wife, Frances, of Montreal; another son, Leslie of Antigua; two sisters, Martha Murray and Bernice Franklin, both of Pittsburgh; a brother, Ernest, of Pittsburgh; eight grandchildren; and two great grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held March 24 in St. Andrews Wesley Church in Vancouver.