Keyboardist and producer David Garfield pays homage to a close friend and mentor with “Sir Charles,” a sunny ode to the late steel pan artist Vince Charles. An industry veteran who played with Neil Diamond and Herb Alpert, Charles was a significant figure in Garfield’s career and turned him onto tropical music. Garfield first came to Los Angeles from St. Louis in the 1970s, and as a teenage keyboard phenom played behind trumpet great Freddie Hubbard. His stellar career as a performer and producer continued, as he worked with Cher, Boz Scaggs and Larry Carlton in the studio, and Earl Klugh, Nancy Wilson and Dianne Reeves on concert stages. Naturally, Garfield amassed enviable contacts over the years, and has been able to call on the cream of the crop to accompany him on recordings. Such is the case with the buoyant “Sir Charles,” which features saxophonist Brandon Fields and wizardly guitarist Grant Geissman and a topflight rhythm section of bassist Hussain Jiffry, drummer John Ferraro and percussionist Michito Sanchez. Robert Greenidge provides the steel pan, the ringing tones of which instantly conjure a beachside hang.
