Big Band Bossa Nova

Stan Getz, Stan Getz And Gary Mcfarland | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B0000046XG
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #365,472 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Morning Of The Carnival

2. Street Dance

3. Melancholy

4. Sympathy Between Friends

5. No More Blues

6. Night Sadness

7. One Note Samba

8. Bim Bom

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pushing the boundaries of bossa nova and big beat., July 11, 2001

By 

darragh o'donoghue - See all my reviews

This review is from: Big Band Bossa Nova (Audio CD)

The delicate beauty of bossa nova and the brasher gestures of big band don't sound like an obvious heavenly match, and the relationship is sometimes awkward on this CD. A famous song like 'Bim Bom' doesn't gain a lot from the fusion, and loses much.

Tracks like 'Chega de Suadade' or 'Noite Triste' don't really sound like bossa nova at all, if we mean by that term a kind of music with a recognisable sound colour. If we mean by 'bossa nova' a certain way of playing jazz, a flexible, fluid yet tight rhythmic form, then they certainly are: both are terrific, cinematic in their expansiveness, soundtracks to a forgotten film noir, a menacing, anxious, probably French one. The elaborations conducted on 'One Note samba' are very exciting.

The high point, however, is Bonfa's 'Manha de Carnaval', which, along with Jobim's 'Insensatez', is the crowning glory of bossa nova. If it's a morning, it's one after the night before, opening with bleary quiet, before taking us on a steadily accumulating journey through Brazilian life just before the carnival explodes. Getz's playing is once again a marvel of expressive restraint.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars incredible Gary MacFarland arranging, December 31, 2009

By 

pholar - See all my reviews

This review is from: Big Band Bossa Nova (Dig) (Audio CD)

I bought this LP years ago when I was building up a 1960s Bossa Nova collection, but didn't really like it at the time for some reason. Having just rediscovered it, I cannot believe how good this is. Stan Getz does his thing, but the genius of the recording lies in the orchestral arrangements by Gary MacFarland and his orchestra. Sparse, unexpected, consistently unpredictable, the familiar Bossa Nova 'standards' are reinterpreted in a new engaging way that is a delight to experience. Horns swell in and out at seemingly random points, single intruments throw up discordant harmonies that somehow resolve beautifully. The record flows yet surprises at every turn.
It's a kind of post-bop, experimental take on the more straightforward Ogermann and Jobim arrangements which works beautifully with the bossa nova straight 8th rhythm and adventurous chord progessions. In retrospect this is probably the most successful Bossa Nova/American Big Band LPs ever recorded.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great stuff from Stan and Gary, November 1, 2005

By 

H D. MEIJ "Herman van der Meij" (Jipsinghuizen, Holland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Big Band Bossa Nova (Audio CD)

Being a big fan off Gary McFarland I can only say this is a beautiful album with big band recordings. Highlight Manha de Carnaval.Pitty there are no (?) extra bonus tracks on this CD.
Highly recommended.