COMPOSERS: Stan Getz
LABELS: Dreyfus Jazz
WORKS: Live in Paris
PERFORMER: Stan Getz (ts); Jim McNeely (p); Marc Johnson (b); Victor Lewis (d)
CATALOGUE NO: FDM 36577-2 (distr. New Note)
One of the first musicians to benefit from jazz’s return to the acoustic mainstream in the Eighties was Stan Getz. The Seventies had left him up a gum tree, his eloquence submerged in a bashing, crashing electronic ensemble that suited his style not a jot. In 1981 he dropped the decibel level and surrounded himself with sympathetic acoustic musicians in tune with his highly individual world. Getz had refined the art of ballad interpretation to a standard that few could get within shouting distance of, as his memorable version of ‘Blood Count’ demonstrates. On these previously unreleased live tracks from 1982, every track reveals a great, but still underrated talent that more and more post-Coltrane saxophonists have been turning to for inspiration. Even Joe Henderson, currently celebrated by critics and public alike, has allowed several Stan Getz-isms to creep into his style. It just shows how the jazz world has yet to catch up with someone it rather took for granted until he was suddenly gone. Stuart Nicholson
Stan Getz
One of the first musicians to benefit from jazz’s return to the acoustic mainstream in the Eighties was Stan Getz. The Seventies had left him up a gum tree, his eloquence submerged in a bashing, crashing electronic ensemble that suited his style not a jot. In 1981 he dropped the decibel level and surrounded himself with sympathetic acoustic musicians in tune with his highly individual world. Getz had refined the art of ballad interpretation to a standard that few could get within shouting distance of, as his memorable version of ‘Blood Count’ demonstrates.
Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:07 pm