Stan Getz Music

I discovered Astrud Gilberto quite by accident when rummaging thru my sister's extensive jazz album collection...

Really wanted to hear her defintive interpretations of 'Corcovado' (after being captivated by EBTG's brilliant drum 'n bass remake) and the seminal standard 'The Girl From Ipanema', and am really enjoying this album.

I bought the Getz/Gilberto cd and loved the collection. It is beautiful and romantic. I won't get tired playing this all over again. Getz' saxophone expertise adds a more romantic feel to the music. You would love to dance with the one you love.

Paying $3.99 for a jazz masterpiece that you don't own is a gift. Grab it!

Wonderful and relaxing music. Very soft, wonderful sound tracks. There are two soundtracks of "The Girl From Ipanema," with the first being the ultimate recording. I would highly recommend this CD for anyone who enjoys cool jazz or any relaxing International-style music.

Stan Getz, Joao Gilberto, Jobim, and others worked together and created a landmark in jazz and bossa nova, but that's not the reason you should listen to it. You should listen to this record because it's a great, beautiful slice of bossa nova. I don't know much about the genre, but genre matters not. This is great jazz, and they don't em' like this any more.

The playing on this record is ace, melancholy, moody, swinging. Joao plays some really good guitar, smooth, lovely, exotic, and melodic, and Getz swings and sings with the saxophone. While the lyrics by Jobim are in a different language, the music is pretty universal, and with Jobim's wife singing in English, you pretty much know what the songs are about. The rhythm section is very relaxing, and very smooth, pretty much what is demanded in an album such as this. This album of Bossa Nova is very different from what most people think when they of South American type of music (the latin stereotype probably defined by Santana).

The album is rather short, but that matters not, as there are no weak or average tracks on here. Even if you don't pay much attention, the album's mood and magic are obvious even if it doesn't require your undivided attention. The tracks that transcend merely good are excellent. The jazz standard, The Girl From Ipanpaneamsfl (AHHH!!!!!. What? I don't want to look it up, you know exactly what track I am talking about), has a great mood, and you can feel what the man is going through, the thing that crossed my mind was "______ look at him you ________! COME ON!" So Danco Samba is the most upbeat song on here, the name says it all. Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars and the third track with the long as _____ name, and the second track are more standouts. It also has one of my favorite love songs, Desafindo.

Oh, excuse me if I make a lot of mistakes on naming the songs off the top of my head, because the songs are extremely long and pretty much in a language I don't understand.

This album is just something that demands to be listened to, and that's the only thing that will do it justice, as many words just don't the sound justice. The two bonus tracks are just excuses for listening to two of the songs over again, and that's perfectly fine. While a bit overrated, give it a listen. No, scratch that, get lost in it, well, for me, records aren't merely a casual listen. Great together with Jazz Samba.

8/10

I think you have to be a native from Brazil, and a Bossa Nova lover (like me), to identify something in these live recordings that most Americans accustomed to jazz rhythms won't notice. I am talking about the awkward way João Gilberto performs the songs of this album. It is very different from the way he sings and plays the guitar in the classic Getz/Gilberto album, and I think the reason is that here he is being accompanied by jazz musicians who don't know how to play the samba rhythm correctly. It sounds like Gilberto is simplifying the rhythm and slowing down everything. This makes these recordings no comparison to the Getz/Gilberto album. The tracks by Stan Getz alone are ok.

I think you have to be a native from Brazil, and a Bossa Nova lover (like me), to identify something in these live recordings that most Americans accustomed to jazz rhythms won't notice. I am talking about the awkward way João Gilberto performs the songs of this album. It is very different from the way he sings and plays the guitar in the classic Getz/Gilberto album, and I think the reason is that here he is being accompanied by jazz musicians who don't know how to play the samba rhythm correctly. It sounds like Gilberto is simplifying the rhythm and slowing down everything. This makes these recordings no comparison to the Getz/Gilberto album. The tracks by Stan Getz alone are ok.

The sound mix of this "Live" concert is appalling -- it's kind of like "João Gilberto, Stan Getz, Astrud Gilberto & Hi-Hats!" No disrespect to Joe Hunt or to Helcio Melito (the two drummers for this concert), but the playing and/or sound mix is simply too obtrusive ("undesirably noticeable" is an apt definition here), as the voice and guitar of João Gilberto, as well as the fluid tenor saxophone of Stan Getz, are consistently overshadowed by those darned hi-hats. (...rolling eyes...) Despite this annoyance, João performs at the peak of his powers, although it appears that the performances of both Astrud and Stan Getz are greatly restrained (perhaps there was some backstage (read: real life) drama going on there?). Suffice it to say, if it is great inspiration that you seek, you will not find it here, although this is still a worthy collector's item. A higher recommendation would be "Gal Costa: Canta Tom Jobim - Ao Vivo" (DVD) which left me in tears from its exquisite execution of beautiful music.

Why did they have to screw it up?

The vinyl recording is far better. This CD issue, which adds five cuts, is so much less pleasant to listen to because of all the unnecessary and distracting "chatter." Three of the Getz-only numbers are among my favorites--"Grandfather's Waltz," "Tonight I Shall Sleep with a Smile on my Face," and "Here's That Rainy Day"--so I was particularly disappointed to find that, in order to listen to them on CD, I had to put up with all the non-music garbage.

Too bad!

I got this album about 7 years ago and from the first time I listened to it, it took its place as my all-time favorite. It was my introduction to samba and my inspiration to search for more jazz for my cd collection.

The music is so versatile and comforting - it is a perfect complement to whatever mood I'm in, be it upbeat or somewhat sad. It is complex but not too challenging to listen to like some other jazz can be. It does not get old or boring to me.

Other reviewers have simply compared this album to others in the genre, but I would rather think of it standing on its own as a wonderful introduction for someone who doesn't have much jazz in their collection, and a must-have for those who do.

There are 5 tracks missing compared to the 1993 version. The entire CD is 35 minutes.

This is a significant CD of Bossa Nova classics. Performers are top-notched saxophonist Stan Fetz, guitarist and vocalist Joao Gilberto and pianist Antonio Carlos Jobim. Orchestration is perfect and couldn't be done better. Recorded in 1963, remastered and released in 1998, it added to the popularity of Astrud Gilberto, who held a concert in 1996. This CD is a must-have for all jazz lovers and beginners.

Well most jazz fans at one point in time owned a copy of an lp, a cassette, or a cd from this famous 1963 recording, to me this particular albulm was by far the best of Stan Getz latin influenced recordings, as for the vocal of Astrud Gilberto, just simply marvelous. And lets not forget Mr Jobim himself on the piano, what can we say except "pure magic" the music remains as fresh as 30 years ago and playing this new remastered version is quite astounding, it is like hearing the music for the first time, it will make every audiophile smile from ear to ear, very rarely when buying a cd's you get such a gem superb music coupled with a superlative recording, this should be on every music lovers "must get list" 5 stars? never, a thousand stars