Stan Getz Music

This same turkey keeps showing up again and again, every three months, the same mediocre Jazz Fusion performance, each time with a different title. I found no less than three versions of this same performance at a record store!

The same as "Live in Europe" Vol 2, "Stan Getz is Jazz, Live by the ...". The record companies are thinking, I suppose, that the public will re-buy anything that says "Stan Getz" without checking the tunes & dates.

From Stan's worst period.

Caveat Emptor.

No heroin habit, no personal inconsistencies to make his life overly complicated and dramatic, no expatriation to Paris or religious fads to sell, no distinguishing anything. Johnny Smith lets his playing do the talking. No one ever played the guitar better. No album has ever been more about the music, and less about peripheral things. Now you know who Johnny Smith is, listen to him and hear the truth behind the myth which says "It's all about the music."

In modern times, Johnny Smith has become unappreciated and forgotten for the superb artistry he displayed as a jazz guitarist-maestro. Listen to Moonlight in Vermont. It is unique for its combination of pithy feeling and technical virtuosity. Technically, Smith burns on single-note leads and soothes with inventive chord melody playing. Perhaps his style sometimes borders on being too precious and precise, but this is trifling criticism. His style comes from the "cool" school of jazz (Lennie Tristano, et al.), but he imbues his music with too much controlled emotion to be called purely "cool." Also, fine tenor sax work from Stan Getz and Zoot Sims serve as excellent complements to Smith's fretboard excursions. A must have CD for any fan of true, original jazz guitar (eg, fans of Jimmy Raney, Wes Montgomery, Tal Farlow, Joe Pass, Kenny Burrell, Barney Kessel, Herb Ellis, etc.).

If you appreciate the work of the early George Shearing Quintets, or Art Van Damme and his quintet work in the fifties, then you'll like this CD of 19 tracks. Johnny Smith was featured on one of Mr Van Damme's records if I recall correctly. But both Shearing and Van Damme, in appealing to a more popular market, could sometimes veer close to "cocktail music". There is no whiff of cocktails in the program on Moonlight in Vermont. Indeed, the drums, bass, piano combinations are uniformly powerful, and feature some of the masters of the "west coast" sound including Eddie Sanfranski. Even relatively less well known players such as Sanford Gold hold their own in some distinguished company - Stan Getz, Paul Quinichette, and Zoot Sims. Mr Smith is consistently superb and the music still sounds good after 50 years. This CD has SEVEN tracks additional to the original LP.

Nearly 50 years after its inception, this recording indeed stands the test of time. Technology has taken leaps and bounds and I think a re-master to make the earlier tracks as clean as the later tracks would be greatly appreciated. If so, I would not hesitate to call this an absolutely essential album.

I am a jazz guitarist , and can honestly say J.S. was the greatest who ever played, in my opinion

Live in Birdland! This is a good recording of a great show! (may actually be a complilation of several shows) It's really fun to hear the announcments of the next number that are apparently for radio audience. The sound quality is quite good considering the year (1952-3) and the band really swings during classics like 'Lullaby of Birdland', 'Stella by Starlight' and 'How High the Moon'. Good stuff.

Stan Getz never made a bad record in his lifetime.
This duo is a compilation of previous releases that all us true Getz lovers have had in our library for years.
For those of you who haven't, run to your nearest Amazon retailer and get it. Hurry!

This 2 CD album brings you a truckload of Stan Getz, the finest artist to ever play the tenor saxophone.

Here is the lively Stan Getz, and the pensive Stand Getz, and the adventuresome Stan Getz.

Do you need instructions ? Here they are -

1) Start the CD

2) Shut down your problems

3) Experience the joy of Stan Getz

Two albums on one CD, Concord makes another wise choice bringing the all-time greatest tenor sax player ever...Stan Getz, featuring the backup of ~ Lou Levy (piano), Monty Budwig (bass) and Victor Lewis (drums). Getz played with almost every swing band in the early '40s...Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Stan Kenton...appearing with Herb Alpert, Chet Baker, Kenny Barron, Count Basie, Tony Bennett, Buddy Bergman, Gary Burton, Roy Eldrige, and Astrud Gilberto and the list goes on.

Let's look at the stand outs ~ "HOW ABOUT YOU", "SPRING IS HERE", "I'M OLD FASHION" and "EASY LIVING"...our favorite saxman shows why his style in this one-of-a-kind performance at San Francisco's Keystone Corner in '81 and '92, is an essential "must have" if you're a Getz fan.

Total Time: Disc One 48:28 on 6 Tracks & Disc Two 52:36 on 7 Tracks ~ Concord Jazz CCD2-4955-2 ~ (2001)

This is a combination of "Dolphin" and "Spring is Here" previously released. From the earlier part of the last decade of Stan Getz life, these were parts of the same concert. These two CD's were first released separately years apart and now they are together.

With Stan dismal 70's Fusion period, and personal problems behind him, he reinvented himself going back to his roots, he plays Mainstream Jazz here. Gone is "Bossa Nova", gone is "Cool". The beautiful tone of the worlds' greatest saxophonist is there, but he is less aloof, less Cool, he puts more of his emotions behind the music especially the Ballads and the result if quite satisfying. Good backup band plays with and in counterpoint to him, not just wallpaper.

Both CD's are revelations, "Spring is Here" gets a slight nod for song selection. "How about You" is perky, "You're Blase" is dreamy. "Old Devil Moon" swings. "I'm Old fashioned" pensive, but the title track, "Spring is Here" is most moving and melancholy. "Time for Love", "My Old Flame" and the samba "Dolphin" stand out on the other CD.

Excellent Concord recording. Clear, warm and detailed without being overly bright.

4 1/2 to 5 stars for performance and recording. Both parts of this CD is included in my "Stan Getz Best" List! see list