No wonder there is a Get Back To Getz Movement! For Stan keeps doing the impossible – improving on perfection. His trip to Britain earlier this year and those wonderful nights at Ronnie Scott’s will long be talked about by all who experienced them. In session after session the tenor saxophonist demonstrated that he is probably the most tasteful, disciplined musician alive today.
Joao Gilberto, his vocalist wife Astrud and pianist Antonio Carlos Jobim are the three young Brazilians who help Stan on this thoughtful date. They share with him the gift of conveying tender emotions. But as Getz says: ‘Don’t let that gentleness fool you. These guys know how to swing harder than most, and they do it without pushing.’
Getz is fabulous throughout. On Corcovado, for instance, his improvisations are stunning, and in the hard-swinging So Danco Samba Stan shows how to get into a sizzling samba groove which nevertheless is graceful. Gilberto’s guitar, along with Milton Banana’s light drumming, carries the rhythm. A few restrained piano passages from Jobim are pleasant, if undistinguished.
To hell with the election, this album is much more interesting. Any collection which contains Big Band Bossa Nova and Focus should include this one too.
Discography
The Girl From Ipanema; Doralice; P’ra Muchucar; Meu Coracao; Desafinado (18 min) – Corcovado; So Danco Samba; O Grande Amor; Vivo Sonhando (16½ min)
Stan Getz (ten); Joao Gilberto (gtr/vcl); Antonio Carlos Jobim (p); Milton Banana (d). Astrud Gilberto (vcl) on The Girl From Ipanema and Corcovado. NYC, 18-19/3/63.
(Verve VLP 9065 12inLP 32s.)
