Stan Getz Music

Hey there Gerry Mulligan fans. Before you purchase this excellent 1958 session, type in JAZZ GIANTS '58 uptop and see which cover art you prefer.

I don't where these other reviewers are coming from. They could be hired guns. This is obviously Mulligan's date as the opening of Chocolate Sundae would indicate. Getz's lyrical playing is overshadowed a bit by Mulligan's more robust tone which contains much lyricism as well. It's a great swinging session. Harry Edison, Herb Ellis, and Oscar Peterson are the other major soloists.----------- If you want more Mulligan with this tone and this type of groove, with no other major soloist except the pianist try JERU,MIDAS TOUCH and DREAM A LITTLE DREAM. Also with Dave Brubeck- AT THE BERLIN PHILHARMONIC. Gerry used a stiffer reed for a more refined sound on his Concert Jazz Band recordings and seems to be playing with it on Dave Brubeck's THE LAST SET AT NEWPORT and WE'RE ALL TOGETHER AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME with Paul Desmond added.

It's been a number of years since I heard a new Stan Getz recording worth mentioning. Since the release of "Bossas and Ballads". Most of what comes out these days are "best of's" or re-packagings.

On this CD we have a jam session, organized by Norm Granz, of a number of artists who bridge the swing and be-bop era and have their feet planted firmly in both. So the music swings! The "head arrangements" were written by Jerry Mulligan, so the "jam" session is much better organized than most. Mulligan did some wonderful larger group arranging in the '50's and then pretty much stopped and went on to standard bop solo with backup group.

The others, Getz, Sweets Edison, Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, take turns doing their parts. On "When Your Lover has Gone" Getz comes in faintly behind Edison's solo, so faint you can hardly hear it. Sometimes Mulligan plays up high on his baritone, Getz plays low on his tenor - it is only the sweetness of tone which tells them apart. Edison, with his Harmon mute, creates that mosquito tone reminiscent of Miles Davis in this period.

This is not a solo Getz album with the others backing him (if that's what you are looking for), each player really get all the time to stretch out he wants and the others back him up. It could just as well be listed as a Mulligan album, maybe. However, Getz, when he plays, soars over the whole crowd like a big eagle.


"Chocolate Sundae" starts with a swinging bass groove and Medley ("Ballade") gives the principles a chance to play sweet.

Many albums from this period are poorly recorded, this one, I'm pleased to announce, is well recorded. This is better recorded than the Granz/Verve Getz with Mulligan and Getz with Peterson albums, are also great perfomances, but a but murky.

Yes, this is a beautiful and logical aglomeration of jazz giants: those who are the giants of modern jazz (Mulligan, Getz) have deep roots in the jazz tradition;
it is actually quite fascinating to hear Stan Getz on the opening number: he actually adds some of Lester Young style wailing to his cool tenor sound! That's quite compatible with the general mood of the song, with Harry "Sweets" Edison, in his prime, and really swinging rhythm section, consisting of Oscar Peterson's trio (with great Ray Brown having some opportunities to solo on this album and Herb Ellis doing some very effective comping), plus great Louis Bellson on the drums...

The basic principle of this album leans towards swing rather than modern jazz, but modern jazz is a key ingredient to this brilliant mainstream affair; it is a genuine pleasure to listen to Harry Edison working on Dizzy Gilespie's standard "Woody'n'you"...

All the musicians involved really shine (and both Mulligan and Getz have previously proven how well they work with older musicians - Hamp, the Prez, Roy Eldridge...) so this is a mainstream jazz affair to remember, a true festival of jazz giants, with Mulligan, in addition to sensitive solos, contributing some head on arrangements...

What a surprise to find this session reissued, and domestically at that. Gerry, Sweets, Oscar, Bellson--these are some of the most identifiable, inimitable and personal instrumental voices in American music, and each of the musicians speaks with sufficient authority to be considered "leader" on the date. But it is Getz who makes the most lasting impression.

Stan Getz--a player whose facility and pyrotechnics are perhaps equalled by no other tenor saxophonist (listen to "For Musicians Only," his date with Diz and Stitt) and whose melodic-harmonic sensibilities, as demonstrated on an album such as Eddie Sauter's "Focus," are still beyond the reach of most musicians. Yet on this occasion he offers up some of the most laconic, minimalist playing on record--not the effete, whispering and somewhat wimpy and meandering solos of his early West Coast "cool" jazz period but music that's as deeply embedded in the blues as Lady Day and Lester performing "Fine and Mellow."

On "Chocolate Sunday," a medium-tempo blues in G introduced by a remarkable Ray Brown bass solo (no artificial boosts or electronic pick-up), Getz follows Oscar Peterson's thunder by practically eschewing technique altogether in favor of pure emotional expression. It's an instance of brilliant restraint resulting in playing of unrestrained feeling. Each sound is articulated differently--from above the pitch or just under it--and the notes are more often sustained than clustered into glib phrases. It's as basic and fundamental as the music can get, an honest cry from the heart--elemental yet penetrating lyric poetry.

Of the many Getz recordings I've collected, this is the one I'd be most reluctant to part with.

I purchased this from a local record store rather than from Amazon. The liner notes are non-existent, beyond a track and personnel list.

This album appears to be a re-issue of some performances on January 23, 1980, at Cannes, France. It looks like this was originally available as "The Stan Getz Tentet", and also appeared on some French RCA recordings. The tracks are:

1. Autumn Leaves - 7'24
2. Billie's Bounce - 11'30
3. Lady Day - 6'00
4. Heart Place - 6'16
5. Kali-Au - 9'00

6. Chappaqua - 9'20

For five of the tracks, personnel were Getz, Andy Leverne [piano], Brian Bromberg [bass], Chuck Loeb [guitar, composer of 4. and 5.], and Victor Jones [drums]. Track 2 personnel were Getz, Joe Farrell, Paul Horn, Mike Garson, Sugar Blue, and Patrick Arturo, and the French announcer mentioned some of their instruments at the beginning of the track.

Overall, it's so-so. "Autumn Leaves" is competent straight-ahead jazz. I found the last track, "Chappaqua", to be peaceful and placid. Two tracks, "Heart Place" and "Kali-Au", are more electronic jazz than anything like his early work. There's no bossa nova sound on this CD.

Recording quality is acceptable for a live recording. Volume did not seem to be consistent across tracks when I played it, but that was relatively minor. The track display in the Windows Media Player was completely off, and appears to be for another CD entirely.

Not the worst album I've ever bought. I'd say it's useful if you are a hard-core Getz fan, as I don't think a couple of the tracks here are available anywhere else. Two and a half stars.

The product details say Region 1 - US and Canada, but the DVD packaging says Region 2/3/4/5/6 and CANNOT be played on my US player. Please Amazon, can you get this product in a Region 1 version!!!

This is a foreign produced DVD, It cannot be viewed on Region 1 DVD players. Bummer. Amazon, you should list this Information on the product.

A nice performance by Getz, an artist in complete command of his instrument. His renditions of up tempo tunes (Tempus Fugit) and of ballads (Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most) are entertaining and musically satisfying. The sound man on this gig did well in balancing the volume of the four instrumentalists, considering the outdoor venue. At times, the reproduction of the piano sounds a little muddled, but doesn't detract from the overall musical experience. Taped in the wine country of California, eight years before Getz's passing.

VHS Vol. 1)~~1. Over the Edge~~2. From the Heart~~3. Answer Without Questions~~4. Sippin' at Bells~~5. Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most~~6. Tempus Fugit~~~~VHS Vol. 2)~~1. Lush Life~~2. Desafinado~~3. Girl from Ipanema~~4. Alone Together~~5. It's You or No One~~6. In Your Own Sweet Way~~7. Blood Count~~8. Medley: Desafinado & Girl From Ipanema.