Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com
Stan Getz wasn't comfortable with the bossa nova. When he flew down to Washington, D.C., from New York in February 1962 with Verve producer Creed Taylor to record Jazz Samba, he did it as a favor to Creed. Guitarist Charlie Byrd needed a big name on the album to help give it a shot at the Billboard charts. Creed was right. When Jazz Samba was released in 1963, the album went to No. 1 on the Billboard album chart, and Getz won the Grammy in 1964 for Best Jazz Performance for the album's Desafinado track. Getz didn't even bother attending the Grammys; his wife Monica picked up the award for him.
By the early 1960s, Getz was one of the most in-demand jazz tenor saxophonists. He had worked relentlessly since the 1940s to achieve his new-found status as a jazz performing and recording giant. At age 35, he had won the admiration of his peers and reached a point where he could record whatever jazz albums he wanted with whomever he wished, a jazz musician's dream.
Getz detested pop. Increasingly self-conscious that his relaxed saxophone sound could be misinterpreted as laid back, he worried he might wind up in the same boat as the equally relaxed cornetist and trumpeter Bobby Hackett, who had spent most of his later years recording movie themes and pop hits of the day backed by strings. So as Getz's lucrative bossa nova workload increased following Jazz Samba, he told Creed he wanted to record straight-up jazz in between the samba albums. Creed was fine with that. [Photo above of Rudy Van Gelder, left, and Creed Taylor recording Stan Getz, Astrud Gilberto, Gary Burton and others at New York's Café Au Go Go on May 22, 1964]
But Getz's fate was sealed in April 1964. Following the release of Getz/Gilberto, a perfect bossa nova expression and perhaps one of the most beautiful albums ever recorded in any genre, it won three Grammy Awards in 1965, including the much coveted Album of the Year and Song of the Year (for The Girl From Ipanema). For the album, Creed had paired Getz with Antonio Carlos Jobim (p) and João Gilberto (g) along with Tommy Williams (b) and Milton Banana (d). During the session, as a lark, Astrud Gilberto, João's wife at the time, agreed to sing The Girl From Ipanema and Corcovado, since she sang in both English and Portuguese.
From Getz/Gilberto on, Getz would become better known for his jazzy samba recordings than any of his earlier jazz efforts. Of course, Getz's unease with the bossa nova didn't stop him from reuniting with João Gilberto several times over the years when he needed money. In fact, part of his reason for recording Jazz Samba in 1962 and the early bossa nova albums that followed was to pay off an IRS debt after skipping off to Denmark in the late 1950 to avoid back taxes.
One of those Getz-Gilberto meetings was The Best of Two Worlds, recorded in the studio for Columbia in May 1975. When the album was released the following year, Getz and Gilberto went out on tour. One of their stops was a week-long stay at Todd Barkan's Keystone Korner in San Francisco in May 1976. [Photo above of Todd Barkan in the 1970s]
Now, Resonance Records has made 13 tracks from the Keystone Korner sessions available for the first time on Getz/Gilberto '76, which smartly features an abstract illustration by the late Olga Albizu, whose work graced the cover of Getz/Gilberto in 1964. The new album features João Gilberto, on vocal and guitar, accompanied by by Getz (ts), Joanne Brackeen (p), Clint Houston (b) and Billy Hart (d).
When I first listened to the new album, I must confess that I had a hard time adjusting to the music. My ear kept expecting something in the mid-range—Astrud Gilberto's voice, perhaps, or Gary Burton's vibes. Between Getz's dominant horn on the bottom and Gilberto's tissue-thin vocals and acoustic guitar on top, the middle seemed bare. Then I put the album on early one morning this week, at 4:30 a.m., when I began my day. In the pitch quiet, I totally fell in love with the music and understood its beauty. Sometimes what you love depends on the time of day you consume it and whether your ear's "palate" is free from the day's other sounds.
What makes Getz/Gilberto '76 special is Gilberto's tender voice, which forces you to sit forward to hear it. The album is really Gilberto's, with Getz jumping in for solos. As a result, it's more of a Brazilian folk album, featuring the earthy, breathy vocal expressions of a bossa nova founding father. Gilberto sings passionately and sensitively throughout in Portuguese, giving the music an exotic air. For kicks, I also listened to The Best of Two Worlds. The new live album, with its hushed intimacy and idling drama, is far superior. Another gem from George Klabin and Fran Gala, co-produced by Zev Feldman and Todd Barkan. A joy to have yet another bossa nova entry in the Getz discography
JazzWax tracks. You'll find Getz/Gilberto '76 (Resonance) here. For more information about the album, go here.
JazzWax clip: Here's Doralice from the album (that's Getz chiming in to finish the vocal at the end)...
Used with permission by Marc Myers
