Ernie Farrow, the brother of
Alice Coltrane, seems to have as many talents as his native West Virginia has river valleys. He was capable of playing all three of the main instruments in a jazz rhythm section -- piano, bass, and drums -- and additionally was more than up to the multi-instrumentalist tasks demanded by bandleader
Yusef Lateef. The latter musical mystic prompted
Farrow to play the rabat, an ethnic stringed instrument that has some similarities to the bass. Piano was
Farrow's first axe; his uncle, Charles Lewis, was a professional pianist who provided lessons for the teenage
Farrow, by then a New York City transplant.
Farrow had his own bands throughout high school and emerged in the professional jazz scene in the first half of the '50s, working with a series of demanding bandleaders including
Terry Gibbs and
Stan Getz. His relationship with
Lateef began around 1956. A few years later
Farrow began leading his own group, based out of Detroit and a strong influence on his younger piano-playing sister. In the '60s he was featured on bass in a terrific classic jazz piano trio fronted by
Red Garland.
Farrow's discography stops at that decade and consists of a great deal of material under
Lateef's name.
Lateef lovers tend to think the man's greatest rhythm section featured
Farrow alongside pianist
Hugh Lawson and drummer
Louis Hayes. ~ Eugene Chadbourne