So, I have been searching through every book and bookstore I have found. Finally, I found one book, The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz 1930-1945 by Gunther Schuller [see after article for full bibliographic information], that shed some light on this elusive man. Remember, though, that this is just scant information on a saxophonist who has left a mark on the musical world. If you know any more about Mr.Garland, please let me know.
Joe Garland was an African-American saxophonist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He joined up with the Mills Blue Rhythm Band around 1932, and worked as a saxophonist and composer/arranger (contributing most of their repertoire). He left in 1936, with the pianist and musical director, Edgar Hayes. Hayes formed his own orchestra, which had (among other great musicians) two great saxophonists: Crawford Wethington and Joe Garland. Both were experts at doubling. Garland explored the lower end of the saxophone family, playing tenor, baritone, and bass saxophones. Many of Garland's arrangements during this time featured an unusual paring of saxophones (for the time): Garland on bass and Wethington on baritone.
Garland later worked as an arranger/composer for Louis Armstrong's orchestra. He became the musical director of it in mid-1940. Leap Frog was written during Garland's time with Armstrong's orchestra. It eventually became Les Brown's theme song. The band played under Garland's direction until 1947, when it was disbanded. The author of this book attributes Armstrong's bands growth from merely a back up band for Armstrong, to a tight and strong swing band to Garland. It seems, according to the author, that Armstrong really wanted a small ensemble to play with, one where he could shine. But his band led by Garland was evolving past this point. At times, the band was "often more interesting to listen to than Armstrong was." [page 194] This is probably why the band was disbanded. Afterwards, Armstrong happily returned to playing with small groups.
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