Stan Getz - Stan Getz's Finest Hour

Stan Getz had one of the most beautiful sounds in jazz history, a light, transparent gauze that mingled high and lows, grit and sweetness. More than just a tone, it was an airy, shifting, living thing that was one with his mercurial improvisations, his sinuous flow of lyrical ideas, and his kinetic, shifting phrases. It was a sound that arrangers loved to work with, and he's matched here with strings and brass, as well as with the small groups that were his typical settings. The ballads here--such as Ralph Burns's "Early Autumn"--are gorgeous, and Getz could bring cool-school lightness to the fastest bop tempos. His sound was an ideal match for the lightly percolating rhythms of bossa nova, with hits like "Desafinado" and "Girl from Ipanema," and it's hard to imagine the Brazilian rhythm's becoming so popular without him. Almost always beautiful, Getz's playing could also be adventurous, as on "I'm Late, I'm Late," with Eddie Sauter's angular, atonal string writing, and "Symptones," from a session with Francy Boland's big band. No hour of music could capture Getz's creative range, but this is an excellent introduction that focuses on some of his stellar moments. --Stuart Broomer Amazon.com

gems taken from gems

"The Sound", or "Stanley the Steamer" as Stan Getz was known, had a pleasing technique and perfect control of his sax. He was much more popular, that is, sold much more albums than his contemporaries with the possible exception of Miles Davis. He was so popular that many critics of the time, and jealous musicians, dismissed his works as too pop. But behind that apparent ease of play and beautiful, buttered, golden tone is perhaps the greatest sax player of all time, who focused his attention not on innovation or writing but expressive playing. John Coltrane once said, "We'd all play like Getz.. if we could". Beauty, sweetness, tinged with melancholy and sadness, perhaps looking back to better times.

Getz played like he was not playing an instrument but rather as if the sax was an direct extention of his soul. After the drugs, which dogged him much of his life, in his later years he would consciously relax every muscle in his body for a half hour or so and enter a super relaxed yet intensly focused meditative state before he played. So the music would come out smooth and sweet. Infinite control so hard it sounds effortless. And it relaxes us just to listen.

This is a Verve best of taken from some twenty years of albums I love "Early Autumn" a re-do of the song that catapulted a younger Getz to public attention age 20 with Woody Herman's Second Herd. "Symptomes" is the mysterious ballad cut of a otherwise spikey experimental big band album. "Desafinado" and "The Girl form Ipanema" are crossover hits that ignited the Bossa Nova period.

While this is a good introduction to Stan, a survey for the Jazz novice, they are bleeding chunks ripped from other albums, like all best ofs. I can only hope that the listener who hears this marvellous music for the first time will seek out the original albums and hear these pieces where they belong. Most everything by Miles Davis is in print, but everyday more and more spectacular Getz original albums disappear from the market as we descend further into the Musical Dark Ages.

Hear this and if you like it, buy the originals while you still can!

I give this only four stars because many of the original albums these are taken from are better!

July 7, 2005

AN EXCELLENT AND OH SO SMOOTH ALBUM

Stan Getz without ANY doubt was the greatest saxophone player ever to walk the planet. NO one had that smooth and melodic tune. In fact, this album represent a good balance between very melodic romantic tunes, bossa nova (oh yes) and of course some wild swinging stuff. While I prefer the bossa nova and more mellow tunes, this album represent a good balance and place to begin for any recent or long time Stan Getz fan. February 20, 2003

Many settings and moods for Stan the Man...

This compliation covers the sax player's best work between 1955 and '71 in only ten selections totalling 60 minutes. As an introduction to Getz, or just as an enjoyable jazz disc, I don't see how it could have been better. Some Bossa Nova is here, of course, but we also get Stan with orchestra, and with pianists, and guitarists, and vibes players. Some of the "name" artists who contribute: Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, Connie Kay, Shelly Manne, Charlie Byrd, Joao Gilberto, Antonio Jobim, Astrud Gilberto, Gary McFarland, Doc Severinsen, Hank Jones, Jim Hall, Herbie Hancock, Kenny Clarke and Chick Corea. The star, however, is always Getz. There is a nice balance here of tempo and mood and well-known v. obscure selections. If you like jazz sax in general, Stan in particular, don't miss this one. January 5, 2003

Girl From Ipanema deserves 5 stars alone

Aside from having one of the greatest records in music history on this sensational album (Girl from Ipanema), Getz's Finest Hour includes a healthy sampling of the great saxaphonist's work.
There are two types of jazz recordings: day and night. This album ("album" itself becoming a quaint term with CDs ruling the market place) includes a smattering of both, the day variety, which are conducive to sitting in your favorite mid-day lounge chair while sipping a cool drink; and the night fare, which are cuts that are best heard in a smokey jazz club in the middle of the night. As mentioned, Finest Hour includes mesmerizing examples of both.
For an admittedly limited sampling one can't go wrong with Getz's Finest Hour it serves as a nice introduction into a musical genius. July 28, 2002

Getz is a genius with the saxophone

The is a collection of some of the best of Stan Getz. It is no wonder he was called "The Sound" in the jazz world. Just be careful; it's so beautiful that it's addictive. December 30, 2001

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