Biography
Ed "Montudi" Garland earned deep respect within the New Orleans jazz community through performances with nearly every major parade band and jazz ensemble of note. His lengthy professional path opened with ensembles including the Imperial Orchestra, most likely before 1910, and reached into the 1970s, when he continued performing as part of the Legends of Jazz. Achievements of this kind matched the customary demands placed on rhythm-section players in the style. He first acquired drum rudiments on snare or bass during parade work. As a teenager he moved to tuba and mellophone while keeping up marching engagements. Adoption of the string bass finally allowed participation in groups that performed without marching. Garland also handled the brass-bass hybrid and appeared with at least six leading New Orleans brass bands.
In 1914 he traveled to Chicago to join the city’s expanding appetite for New Orleans jazz. He directed his own unit across a leading theater circuit, accompanying vocalist Mabel Lee Lane. Additional Chicago associations involved Manuel Perez, Freddie Keppard, and ultimately King Oliver. The latter leader opened the 1920s with a West Coast venture; Garland remained in the region and joined Kid Ory, an alliance that continued intermittently across the next decade. Appearances with Jelly Roll Morton in Los Angeles also occurred. During the mid-1950s Garland joined Andrew Blakeney’s combo yet simultaneously worked with pianist and bandleader Earl Hines in San Francisco.
He stayed visible on the West Coast traditional jazz circuit, where activity increased alongside the 1960s Dixieland resurgence. Listeners regularly encountered him with Turk Murphy or Joe Darensbourg at venues in both San Francisco and Los Angeles. Collaboration with Blakeney persisted, documented by a 1966 appearance on film in the melodrama Hotel with that ensemble. The 1969 lineup of the Young Men of New Orleans featured the bassist, who two years later returned to New Orleans for a jazz festival performance. Throughout the 1970s Garland traveled internationally with the Legends of Jazz.
In 1914 he traveled to Chicago to join the city’s expanding appetite for New Orleans jazz. He directed his own unit across a leading theater circuit, accompanying vocalist Mabel Lee Lane. Additional Chicago associations involved Manuel Perez, Freddie Keppard, and ultimately King Oliver. The latter leader opened the 1920s with a West Coast venture; Garland remained in the region and joined Kid Ory, an alliance that continued intermittently across the next decade. Appearances with Jelly Roll Morton in Los Angeles also occurred. During the mid-1950s Garland joined Andrew Blakeney’s combo yet simultaneously worked with pianist and bandleader Earl Hines in San Francisco.
He stayed visible on the West Coast traditional jazz circuit, where activity increased alongside the 1960s Dixieland resurgence. Listeners regularly encountered him with Turk Murphy or Joe Darensbourg at venues in both San Francisco and Los Angeles. Collaboration with Blakeney persisted, documented by a 1966 appearance on film in the melodrama Hotel with that ensemble. The 1969 lineup of the Young Men of New Orleans featured the bassist, who two years later returned to New Orleans for a jazz festival performance. Throughout the 1970s Garland traveled internationally with the Legends of Jazz.
Singles