Stan Getz Music

Pop the cork on that Brut Rose champagne, snuggle up with your Honey and listen!

Stan Getz music, "The Sound", the epitome of Cool, and Romantic in the true sense fo the word. Introspective. Always Lyrical and effortless. As if the sax were connected directly to his heart. A warm Balm to a world of stress, anger and dissonance. Melancholy. More than anyone else, with the possible exception or Miles Davis (before '64), Stan IS the meaning of Cool.

Most of these ballads are taken from the eighties, the final decade of his forty year career.

As wonderful as this lyrical introduction is, Getz music is rapidly disappearing from the market, and all that's left are "best of's". I hope the reader will seek out the albums from which this music is taken, which are even more marvellous. Try "Anniversary", "Blue Skies", "My Old Flame", "Serenity" to hear these classic songs in their original context.

all is good, but songs suffered somewhat when removed from original faster and slower song context, like ripping a large gem stone from it's setting and surrounding jewels.

You'll love this, and much more is available!

Antes de voltarmos a falar do jazz no Chile, precisamos apresentar aquilo que vamos denominar de `segunda fase' de Stan Getz. Já sabemos que, entre 1943 e 1949, Getz passou por um importante período de aprendizagem com alguns dos mestres do swing: aos 16 anos toca com Jack Teagarden. Em seguida, com Stan Kenton, Jimmy Dorsey e Benny Goodman. Finalmente, parte para a banda de Woody Herman, com a qual produz duas importantes gravações: Four Brothers e Early Autumn. Considerado por muitos como um ótimo imitador de Lester Young, Getz percebe que, nesse dúbio elogio, encontrava-se também uma espécie de crítica mordaz em relação à sua capacidade inventiva e à sua personalidade própria. Disposto a mostrar que era capaz de vencer limitações e construir um estilo próprio, dotado de uma sonoridade personalíssima, parte em direção a um projeto que, mais tarde, lhe valeria a alcunha de The Sound, por ter estabelecido o som mais bonito que muitos já puderam ouvir de um sax tenor. A segunda fase de Getz, então, constitui-se do estudo, domínio e manuseio do bebop, o mais novo idioma negro produzido na costa leste.
A linguagem complexa desse novo estilo estava sendo definida por gente como Dizzy Gillespie e Charlie Parker, entre outros, como Kenny Clarke e Thelonious Monk, dois estilistas autônomos do movimento. O requisito básico da aventura bop era o virtuosismo, coisa que Getz detinha e outros não, como, por exemplo, Miles Davis. Depois de levar surras homéricas de Gillespie e Parker, Miles afundou-se na heroína e inventou o tal de jazz modal, um sistema onde até mesmo uma velhinha desdentada de 90 anos é capaz de improvisar horas a fio. Getz, ao contrário, encarou o desafio com os peso-pesados do bop, destilando frases complexas e velozes através de uma sonoridade etérea, sedutora e ímpar, imediatamente reconhecível. Em termos de gravações, podemos dizer que essa `segunda fase' de Getz vai de 1949 - quando grava o excelente Stan Getz Quartets - até 1956, quando grava o emblemático álbum For Musicians Only, com Sonny Stitt (as), Dizzy Gillespie (t), Herb Ellis (g), John Lewis (p) e Ray Brown (b).

In this period of Stan Getz career, very late 40's and early 50's there must be some 20 CD's available with overlapping selections. So It's hard to recommend one over another. Many of the selections on this CD are also on the "Complete Roost Sessions", "Prezervation", etc. The Europeans do not recognize our copyrights and only extend original copyrights for 50 years. So as far as they are concerned, these performances are now in the public domain, the artist or the artist estate get no royalties, and anyone who feels like it can put out a copy.

So how is it? Wonderful. Stan with Al Haig mostly, who is, after maybe Kenny Barron, his greatest accompaning pianist. Haig and Getz could play complex bebop with the fastest of them, but had a cool and romantically lyrical side missing from their contemporaries. Listen to "Too Marvellous for Words" for an example of this.

If you don't have it on another CD (check recording dates to see) this is a good sampling from Stan's early, Cool(est) period.

Recording quality? what can you expect from 1950?

I bought this as an LP while stationed in Japan in 1962. It took me about two months just to turn it over, because the songs on side one blew me away. I was so affected by Getz's playing that I bought a tenor saxophone and subjected the rest of the guys living in the barracks to my practicing. I shudder to remember doing that. I wasn't ever very good at it.

But Getz was good at it. His later stuff is very pretty, but this recording is not only pretty, it shows Getz at a time when he had a muscular edge to his playing. He was young and on fire. I have since heard other collections of his early things that come close, but as this is my first love, nothing else quite measures up. 'You Stepped Out Of A Dream' was my favorite on the album. In about 1982 I saw Stan at Keystone Korner in San Francisco. At a slow moment between tunes I called out that title and they played it for me. It was one of the high points of my life.

If you buy it, I believe you will thank me. But you might have to listen to it for two months first. Who knows? The other players on this are outstanding. The piano player is particularly fine, but I've forgotten his name and am too lazy to walk downstairs to read the CD case.

This extremely pleasant and ellegant album uses latin rhythms, as one would expect, but it is a genuine jazz record, with some nice take on the gentle standards that Getz played so soulfully and cleverly,
with Tjader's swinging unit providing the added value of feelgood, bouncy rhythmical spice.

I like jazz. I like Stan Getz. I like this album.

Outstanding performances

This is a great pairing of talent, as well as of style. Yes, it leaves you wanting more, but what is here is special. An extra added treat on this one is the really great guitar playing of Eddie Duran, whose playing, especially on his harmony lines with Stan, give this recording added appeal. What a great player. "Ginza Samba", "Crow's Nest", and "Liz-Anne" are my favorites, though everything else shines as brightly.

Sure, it's only 43 minutes long, but what a CD. Getz and Tjader had long tried to work together and when they finally did record, their styles melded perfectly. Eddie Duran is a wonder on guitar. Scott LaFaro, who would later play bass for Bill Evans' most formiable line up, and whose life was tragically cut short, shows that even early in his career, he could hold his own with anyone. Great music and an important piece to each of these artist's careers.

It doesn't get much better than Tjader and Getz together. The only thing that I can criticize about this release, is that there isn't enough here and you're left longing for more.

A good, strong release...made at great points in Tjader and Getz's respective careers.

You'll ejoy this (all too brief) one.

It's unusual to find Stan Getz recording on the Fantasy label in 1958, when these sides were made, getting second billing no less. He could thank his boss Norman Granz for that, though, who "loaned" Getz to Fantasy to record with Tjader "for a fee." Ah, well. It didn't seem to bother Stan, however, because he plays marvelously on the date. (Maybe having just heard that he won the Down Beat and Metronome polls again further inspired him.)

Tjader is an excellent vibes player who specialized in Latin jazz. He and Stan do some of their best playing on the up-tempo samba GINZA SAMBA. LIZ-ANNE, a Tjader composition, is a medium-up waltz that swings nicely, with good solos by Stan and Cal. Guitarist Eddie Duran has a well-developed solo on CROWS NEST, a medium-up blues, and Getz is at his prettiest on I'VE GROWN ACCUSTOMED TO HER FACE. The seldom heard MY BUDDY gets a nice relaxed treatment that makes you want to hear it more frequently. This is a great album, relaxed and swinging, and containing excellent tune choices. Definitely worth checking out.

[Whatever happened to the OJC CD issue of this album?]

This extremely pleasant and ellegant album uses latin rhythms, as one would expect, but it is a genuine jazz record, with some nice take on the gentle standards that Getz played so soulfully and cleverly,
with Tjader's swinging unit providing the added value of feelgood, bouncy rhythmical spice.

I like jazz. I like Stan Getz. I like this album.

Outstanding performances

This is a great pairing of talent, as well as of style. Yes, it leaves you wanting more, but what is here is special. An extra added treat on this one is the really great guitar playing of Eddie Duran, whose playing, especially on his harmony lines with Stan, give this recording added appeal. What a great player. "Ginza Samba", "Crow's Nest", and "Liz-Anne" are my favorites, though everything else shines as brightly.

Sure, it's only 43 minutes long, but what a CD. Getz and Tjader had long tried to work together and when they finally did record, their styles melded perfectly. Eddie Duran is a wonder on guitar. Scott LaFaro, who would later play bass for Bill Evans' most formiable line up, and whose life was tragically cut short, shows that even early in his career, he could hold his own with anyone. Great music and an important piece to each of these artist's careers.

It doesn't get much better than Tjader and Getz together. The only thing that I can criticize about this release, is that there isn't enough here and you're left longing for more.

A good, strong release...made at great points in Tjader and Getz's respective careers.

You'll ejoy this (all too brief) one.

This is my favorite Getz bossa nova album. Almeida is excellent throughout, and his guitar is better recorded and more up-front than Charlie Byrd's on Jazz Samba.

I don't care for the vocals on Getz/Gilberto, and for me Getz works best without vocalists in any case--he is the vocalist. Almeida also has a voice here that's ear-catching, far more so than Byrd on Jazz Samba. I like Jazz Samba as well, but on this album, the players overall "get" the music a bit better (perhaps because it features more Brazilian musicians than Jazz Samba).

So if you like your Getz bossa nova w/o vocals, I'd suggest you start here and then check out Jazz Samba and Jazz Samba Encore--that has some vocals, but they're very good.

This is another Bossa Nova classic from the master of that style. I agree with previous reviewers that this record is as good as Getz/Gilberto and Jazz Samba. All tracks are sensational with beautiful flowing lines from Stan's sax.

Laurindo Almeida is one of my favorite guitarists. He was a real talent, perhaps in the shadow of some of the other greats from Brazil when Bossa Nova was so popular like Baden Powell, Luiz Bonfa, Joao Gilberto, etc. etc. But here I think he shines brightly with none other than Stan Getz who really was "the Sound".

I can't say it enough - I love this album. Granted, it is very short - just under 30 minutes of music. But in that time you have some tracks that take you to that time, to a summer sunset. Listening to the vinyl though hold's something a bit more special to me, but both formats have all the songs from the feature - the difference being that the CD actually has an additional track - a rendition to "Corcovado". But I love Menina Moca and I think my other favorite is Maracatu-Too. It's almost impossible not to like the bossa in that song, which keeps the track so tight and moving... let alone Stan Getz's guitar layered over the piano and Laurindo's guitar as the notes take off.

Definitely check this one out. I think it's woefully underrated out of all of the great Stan Getz Bossa Nova collaborations. It's purely a matter of taste but it's certainly one of my top two, if not number one (depending on the mood). And if you do like this, check out Getz/Gilberto, Stan Getz Big Band Bossa Nova and especiall Getz/Bonfa, which features Luiz Bonfa's wife, Maria Toledo, with stunning & haunting vocals.

Probably anyone who likes bossa nova will like this mid-60s album containing great songs such as the ballad "Winter Moon", the lively, percussive "Maracatu-Too", and the standard "Corcovado". The recording isn't perfect, but it sufficiently displays the tones of Getz' sax and Almeida's guitar. The total time is quite short for CD, about a half-hour, but that's a minor concern considering the quality of the music.

I would have really loved to have a modern CD transfer of this great album, but unfortunately this overpriced Japanese "mini LP" CD is the mono version.

This is my favorite Getz bossa nova album. Almeida is excellent throughout, and his guitar is better recorded and more up-front than Charlie Byrd's on Jazz Samba.

I don't care for the vocals on Getz/Gilberto, and for me Getz works best without vocalists in any case--he is the vocalist. Almeida also has a voice here that's ear-catching, far more so than Byrd on Jazz Samba. I like Jazz Samba as well, but on this album, the players overall "get" the music a bit better (perhaps because it features more Brazilian musicians than Jazz Samba).

So if you like your Getz bossa nova w/o vocals, I'd suggest you start here and then check out Jazz Samba and Jazz Samba Encore--that has some vocals, but they're very good.

This is another Bossa Nova classic from the master of that style. I agree with previous reviewers that this record is as good as Getz/Gilberto and Jazz Samba. All tracks are sensational with beautiful flowing lines from Stan's sax.

Laurindo Almeida is one of my favorite guitarists. He was a real talent, perhaps in the shadow of some of the other greats from Brazil when Bossa Nova was so popular like Baden Powell, Luiz Bonfa, Joao Gilberto, etc. etc. But here I think he shines brightly with none other than Stan Getz who really was "the Sound".

I can't say it enough - I love this album. Granted, it is very short - just under 30 minutes of music. But in that time you have some tracks that take you to that time, to a summer sunset. Listening to the vinyl though hold's something a bit more special to me, but both formats have all the songs from the feature - the difference being that the CD actually has an additional track - a rendition to "Corcovado". But I love Menina Moca and I think my other favorite is Maracatu-Too. It's almost impossible not to like the bossa in that song, which keeps the track so tight and moving... let alone Stan Getz's guitar layered over the piano and Laurindo's guitar as the notes take off.

Definitely check this one out. I think it's woefully underrated out of all of the great Stan Getz Bossa Nova collaborations. It's purely a matter of taste but it's certainly one of my top two, if not number one (depending on the mood). And if you do like this, check out Getz/Gilberto, Stan Getz Big Band Bossa Nova and especiall Getz/Bonfa, which features Luiz Bonfa's wife, Maria Toledo, with stunning & haunting vocals.

Probably anyone who likes bossa nova will like this mid-60s album containing great songs such as the ballad "Winter Moon", the lively, percussive "Maracatu-Too", and the standard "Corcovado". The recording isn't perfect, but it sufficiently displays the tones of Getz' sax and Almeida's guitar. The total time is quite short for CD, about a half-hour, but that's a minor concern considering the quality of the music.

I would have really loved to have a modern CD transfer of this great album, but unfortunately this overpriced Japanese "mini LP" CD is the mono version.

This is my favorite Getz bossa nova album. Almeida is excellent throughout, and his guitar is better recorded and more up-front than Charlie Byrd's on Jazz Samba.

I don't care for the vocals on Getz/Gilberto, and for me Getz works best without vocalists in any case--he is the vocalist. Almeida also has a voice here that's ear-catching, far more so than Byrd on Jazz Samba. I like Jazz Samba as well, but on this album, the players overall "get" the music a bit better (perhaps because it features more Brazilian musicians than Jazz Samba).

So if you like your Getz bossa nova w/o vocals, I'd suggest you start here and then check out Jazz Samba and Jazz Samba Encore--that has some vocals, but they're very good.

This is another Bossa Nova classic from the master of that style. I agree with previous reviewers that this record is as good as Getz/Gilberto and Jazz Samba. All tracks are sensational with beautiful flowing lines from Stan's sax.

Laurindo Almeida is one of my favorite guitarists. He was a real talent, perhaps in the shadow of some of the other greats from Brazil when Bossa Nova was so popular like Baden Powell, Luiz Bonfa, Joao Gilberto, etc. etc. But here I think he shines brightly with none other than Stan Getz who really was "the Sound".

I can't say it enough - I love this album. Granted, it is very short - just under 30 minutes of music. But in that time you have some tracks that take you to that time, to a summer sunset. Listening to the vinyl though hold's something a bit more special to me, but both formats have all the songs from the feature - the difference being that the CD actually has an additional track - a rendition to "Corcovado". But I love Menina Moca and I think my other favorite is Maracatu-Too. It's almost impossible not to like the bossa in that song, which keeps the track so tight and moving... let alone Stan Getz's guitar layered over the piano and Laurindo's guitar as the notes take off.

Definitely check this one out. I think it's woefully underrated out of all of the great Stan Getz Bossa Nova collaborations. It's purely a matter of taste but it's certainly one of my top two, if not number one (depending on the mood). And if you do like this, check out Getz/Gilberto, Stan Getz Big Band Bossa Nova and especiall Getz/Bonfa, which features Luiz Bonfa's wife, Maria Toledo, with stunning & haunting vocals.

Probably anyone who likes bossa nova will like this mid-60s album containing great songs such as the ballad "Winter Moon", the lively, percussive "Maracatu-Too", and the standard "Corcovado". The recording isn't perfect, but it sufficiently displays the tones of Getz' sax and Almeida's guitar. The total time is quite short for CD, about a half-hour, but that's a minor concern considering the quality of the music.

I would have really loved to have a modern CD transfer of this great album, but unfortunately this overpriced Japanese "mini LP" CD is the mono version.