Stan Getz was often called “The Sound” because of his warm, lyrical tone, due largely to the influence of the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. He elicited from his tenor sax a luxuriant tone, which made Stan a natural to spread the sound of cool jazz in the ’50s, and furthered the bossa nova explosion of the ’60s of which he was a centerpiece.
We have become accustomed to hearing a very mellow Stan Getz, as exemplified by his definitive rendition of Desafinado (top right) … bossa nova at its best, with Joanne Brackeen on piano, Clint Houston playing double bass, and Billy Hart on drums. Just (below that) Getz continues in a mellow mood, as he is joined by Chet Baker on Dear Old Stockholm, not too surprisingly recorded in Sweden, in 1983.
A bit less usual Stan swings out on the old favorite Slow Boat To China, with Kenny Barron playing piano, Alex Blake on bass, and Terri Lyne Carrington on drums (just left), performing at the Munich Philharmonie Hall in Germany, in 1990. And, finally, Getz once again lights it up, joined by Chet Baker … also featuring Jim McNeely at the piano, George Mraz on bass, and Victor Lewis playing drums (bottom) on Miles Davis’ Milestones.
