Stan Getz - The Cool Sound of Stan Getz (1956-1958)
Stan Getz - The Cool Sound of Stan Getz (1956-1958)
CD1 - The Steamer 1 - Blues for Mary Jane 2 - There Will Never be Another You 3 - You're Blasé 4 - Too Close for Comfort 5 - Like Someone in Love 6 - How About You? Line Up: Stan Getz - tenor saxophone Lou Levy - piano Leroy Vinnegar - bass Stan Levey – drums. Recorded November 24th, 1956, Hollywood CD2 - Imported from Europe 1 - Bengt's Blues 2 - Honeysuckle Rose 3 - They Can't Take That Away from Me 4 - Topsy 5 - Like Someone in Love 6 - Speak Low 7 - Stockholm Street Line Up: Stan Getz - tenor saxophone Erik Nordstrom and Bjarne Nerem - tenor saxophone Benny Bailey - trumpet Ake Persson - trombone Jan Johansson - piano (tracks 2, 3, 4 & 7) Lars Gullin - baritone sax Bengt Hallberg - piano (tracks 1, 5 & 6) Gunnar Johnsson - bass William Schiopffe - drums. Recorded August 26, September 15 & 16, 1958, Stockholm
It doesn't happen too often, but there are times when the title of a jazz album and the material within interface perfectly. Hence The Steamer, where Stan Getz joined forces with a super West Coast-based rhythm section to produce some truly steaming music. "Blues for Mary Jane" is remarkable; for all of the straight-ahead heat generated by the rhythm section, Getz is incredibly relaxed, poised, and always under control while still managing to swing like mad. In other words, the style that he was able to carry over to his bossa nova adventures in the following decade is right here, ready to go. There is also room for the Getz-ballad manner on "You're Blase," and "Like Someone in Love" combines a leisurely swinging tempo with Getz's natural warmth. From the evidence of these sessions alone, not to mention countless others, the team of bassist Leroy Vinnegar and drummer Stan Levey ought to be anointed as one of the greatest rhythm sections in jazz history, and sure-fingered pianist Lou Levy benefits from their finesse and drive. All of this music is available on the three-CD set East of the Sun: The West Coast Sessions, and this Verve Master Edition release offers outtakes from that set at the end of the disc. Indeed, the alternate "How About You?" has some swinging hairpin turns by Getz that will make your head swivel. --- Richard S. Ginell, Rovi
After marrying Swedish aristocrat Monica Silfverskiold in late 1956, Stan Getz spent the remainder of the decade living and working on the Scandinavian Peninsula. Recorded in 1959 with local players including pianist Bengt Hallberg, tenor saxman Erik Nordstrom, baritonist Lars Gullin and trombonist Ake Persson as well as expatriate American trumpeter Benny Bailey, Imported from Europe channels the frosty ambience of its geographic origins to create one of Getz's most evocative efforts -- a decisively modern and cerebral session, it's nevertheless humanized by the warm, rich tone of Getz's tenor sax. While the majority of the music spotlights standards including "They Can't Take That Away from Me" and "Like Someone in Love," it's the two originals -- Lars Gullin's "Stockholm Street" and Bengt Hallberg's concluding "Bengt's Blues" -- that prove most impressive, boasting a style and sophistication that are inextricably tied to their Swedish DNA. ---Jason Alkeny, Rovi