Stan Getz Music

I ordered this CD for my father for xmas. He heard this record on LP in the sixties, now he realized that it was re-released on CD. He said that this is the Getz-Brookmeyer quintet's best record ever. Soon after this Stan moved to the well-known bossa-novas, which are also unforgettable and five stars *****!

Back then they called it "cool", but this is real jazz played smoothly. Mellow mood music with sensitive interplay between the two principal performers, backed by a fine rhythm section (pianist Steve Kuhn, bassist John Neves and drummer Roy Haynes).

Listening to Stan Getz works, one is amazed at the number of major future talents who he hired as backup musicians, Gary Burton, Al Haig, Kenny Barron, to name a few. The only musician to turn up more future talents than Getz was Miles Davis. Despite marvellous technique, it was Stan in the spotlight, he tended to let them have a short solo and paid them musical minimum wage. (Later many would be stars in their own right.)

The exception was Bob Brookmeyer and his valve trombone who was so talented Getz treated him as an equal and played duets with him, at the same time, rather than giving him space for a short solo. Getz valued him so much he even told a magazine Brookmeyer had join his band. Brookmeyer objected. Getz retreated and said it was wishful thinking.

They got together on and off for years. Getz even changed mouthpieces when playing with Brookmeyer so his sax would have a similar tymbre to Brookmeyer's trombone.

I like their effort "Jazz at the Shrine". This is more complex duet play, fast, light, bebop, dry, in a similar vein to Shrine. Here they do a wonderful job of playing around each other, improvizing two moving parts at the same time without ever bumping into one another, or hitting a wrong note. Like an arabesque.

This was a demonstration that Stan Getz refused to be boxed into any one area of music and for that he deserves tons of credit. Whether it was lilting bossa-nova or unique classically-infused outings like the brilliant "Focus", Stan was indeed taking risks. On "Reflections", he goes for a more commercial pop angle and succeeds about half the time, not because of his playing so much as Claus Ogerman's arrangements which can range to very thoughtful and colorful to outright schlock that gets DANGEROUSLY close to Ray Conniff Singers territory.

The real gems include "Moonlight In Vermont" with its sweeping arrangement, "Love" with its fiery percolating Latin rhythms and Stan just letting loose, "Spring Can Hang You Up The Most" and "Nite Street" are real highlights too with tastefully swinging arrangements. "Charade" is a better than average Bossa tune and "Penthouse Serenade" is a real ear opener with its tricky 6/8 heavily syncopated meter and Stan just coloring it like an expert painter.

The rest of the album goes more than a little saccharine and as much as I"ve tried I just CANNOT GET BEHIND this schlock-treatment of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' In The Wind", it just does not work! "A Sleeping Bee" is just too bogged down in Ray Conniff-esque vocal choruses to be listenable, ARRRRRRGH!

If anything, I'd recommend downloading the individual mp3 tracks that you like.

I've owned this controversial album for years and have always enjoyed it. The arrangements are interesting, with alot (sometimes too much) back-up from vocals and strings. However, it seems to me that Stan Getz puts more into his playing on this disc than he does on the formulaic bossa nova albums of the same period. Worth the small price just to hear Stan's version of "Blowing in the Wind".

An obvious contractual obligation.

Poor Stan valiantly struggles to keep from being drowned by 10,000 strings.