Customer Reviews

Getz Plays Jobim: The Girl From Ipanema

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First impressions: The album is very "breathy" and sultry. They must have turned up the bass when they recorded it; even the tenor is more "breathy" than usual. Anyway, to simplify this, the bossa nova sound here has a sexy exuberance.

The liner notes are very thorough written by a guy named Neil Tesser from 'Jazziz Magazine' who is also a radio show host in Chicago. He includes a nice explanation as to how bossa nova came about and why it sounds so "laid back". (Basically a rebellion towards tango and bollero singers who were "projecting", their beautiful voices. Note how "projecting" is in quotation marks. Obviously a euphenism for shouting?)

What impressed me in the liner notes about Stan Getz is that he recorded five albums in a 13 month period whereas the bulk of these songs were culled.

The music contained herein is smooth, the vocals very casual, very summer. Lots of guitar, steamy vocals, Getz's breathy sax too. The recordings have a very high sound quality

The CD is 1 hour and 4 minutes long. It hs a retro cover with a 3/4 view looking down on Stan Getz playing his tenor sax in a white shirt, black pants, black shoes, while his sleeves are rolled up. Its both nerdy and charismatic at the same time.

I'm glad I own this. It's a safe buy from a grandmaster of bossa nova.

Tony

Stan Getz and Tom Jobim had a mutual appreciation society. Yes, Getz album "Getz/Gilberto" is the second largest selling Jazz album of all time, (right behind Miles Davis "Kind of Blue") and it features the music of Jobim. Getz always loved a good melody. More than anyone else, Getz '60's albums made Jobim's name popular in America. And Getz became identified with Samba/Bossa Nova, even though he only played Bossa Nova for some 5 years of his 40 year career.

What is less well known is that Jobim had heard Getz and Cool Jazz for years before and he formulated his Bossa Nova version of Samba as a Brazilian version of this Cool Jazz. So Getz playing Jobim's music was an ideal match.

This album like the recent "Getz for Lovers" is an inexpensive best-of. You'll like it. Melifluous Bossa Nova is warm and happy even when it's melancholy.

Again, I prefer these tunes in their original albums, (see my "Best of Stan Getz" list for my preferences). If you like this, get the originals. If this album brings new listeners to appreciate Stan Getz, the greatest sax player of all time, it will have served it's purpose.

As John Coltrane said "We'd ALL play sax like Stan Getz, if we could".

Thanks to chillout and lounge artists such as Thievery Corporation, over the past few years Bossa Nova has once more come to the forefront of our musical consciousness. So today, almost three years after its release, this compilation of Bossa Nova works by American sax player Stan Getz comes in more than handy: it comes in timely, to reinforce Bossa as a groove that was more than a plain elevator music fad that lasted only for 3 years of our collective lives, in the early sixties.

Bossa is a downbeat, sexy statement to relax to, in a couch or while standing sipping through a coffee. It is a way of seeing the world without taking it all too seriously, it is -in a way- a happy way of seeing the world, which we need so direly in these turbulent times. And Stan Getz, driven by Bossa's creator, Jobim, and accompanied by geniuses of the calliber of Joao Gilberto, Astrud Gilberto, Charlie Byrd, Luis Bonfa, Gary Burton and many others, presents us here with a fairly comprehensive Verve compilation of some of Bossa's greatest moments, as lived (and conveyed) by Getz, for our enjoyment some 40 years after the fact, sounding just as fresh and upbeat.

The merger of cool American saxophone with sultry Brazilian folk sounds hit our shores in 1962, and was pretty much over by '65. While the craze was hot, it was everywhere. Now, 40 years later, it still pleases, especially because one never hears music like this on radio stations. Stan Getz was the USA's big champion of this style, and this CD takes selections from six of his vinyl LP's from the early '60's. Joining him are Antonio Carlos Jobim, composer, pianist and guitarist; singers Astrud and Joao Gilberto; vibraphonist Gary Burton and guitarist Jim Hall. All the biggest Bossa Nova hits are on here, in original versions. The mood is mostly mellow, but it's a happy hour overall. If you like jazz, and you don't have any of the original records sampled on this disc, don't be afraid to buy this. It is worth the price, by far.

This was my first encounter with Stan Getz, kind of odd how it happened. I was in a Virgin Music Superstore in Vancouver, B.C. and I saw the CD on one of the listening walls. I decided to listen to it and absolutely fell in love with the music.

This music is absolutely relaxing, but I would probably say that it'd be a lot of fun to dance to as well (if you like to ballroom dance:-) ). In any case, the brazilian beats mixed with the improv(?) horn performance makes for a really mellow jazzy sound that's a lot of fun to drive to. A great CD to have ready to play in the morning as you drink your coffee and read a book or a newspaper.

I enjoy this CD so much. It's really mellow. I picture myself walking around little streets in Europe listening to this. I can't help but grin when I play it. It's a nice departure from a lot of stuff that's out these days.

"Times change. But the appeal of the Bossa Nova hasn't; neither have Jobim's voluptuous melodies, the Gilbertos' warm and airy voicings, or the century-spanning art of Stan Getz." ~ Neil Tesser ~

"The songs of Joćo Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim came to America like a breath of fresh air. Their music arrived here when anemia and confusion were becoming noticeable in our music to anyone who knew enough to be concerned. The desperate craze for innovation had been overextending itself." ~ Stan Getz ~

Stan Getz (1927-1991), a Grammy award winning saxophonist, had already established himself in classic, cool jazz when he ventured into Brazilian jazz. He was very much a part of the Bossa Nova culture and one of the pioneering spirits behind the popularity of this music genre. Having worked as a sideman with big names in jazz such as Jack Teagarden, Stan Kenton, Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey and Woody Herman; and having performed with jazz superstars as Oscar Peterson, Charlie Parker, Zoot Sims, Chet Baker, Chick Corea and Sarah Vaughan, to mention but a few, Stan Getz had penetrated the elite circle of jazz musicians and singers.

In the early Sixties, Getz was playing a different tune as a result of his collaborations with Bossa Nova icons--the likes of Antonio Carlos Jobim, Joćo Gilberto, Astrud Gilberto, Luis Bonfá, Laurindo Almeida, Charlie Byrd, and many others.

"Stan Getz Plays Jobim: The Girl From Ipanema" is a collection of Antonio Carlos Jobim's original compositions that Getz recorded for Verve Records from 1962 through 1964. I was listening to this recording last night for the umpteenth time and savored its beauty anew. It's always a pleasure listening to the incredible artistry of Getz as he interprets the fascinating music of Jobim. He made his sweeping saxophone wail, weep, or jump with joy. Jazz critic/writer Bob Blumenthal once said that it was "Stan Getz's sound and sensibility that turned bossa nova into a phenomenon in the US at a time when jazz was growing more exploratory and pop music was awaiting Motown and the British Invasion." How can one disagree with him when it's a point well-taken?

Award winning music writer and regular contributor to Jazz Times, Doug Ramsey, once commented: "In 1963 Getz entered his bossa nova phase, which took his music and name into households in which jazz had never before been a presence."

Another credible jazz writer from Down Beat, Don Gold, also accurately evaluated Getz's artistry as "infinite taste, richly flowing conception, and warm feeling." He further added that Getz "can create moving ballad forms or exciting up-tempo patterns, characterized in both cases by long, lovely phrases."

Listen closely to his solo in "How Insensitive" ("Insensatez"). Isn't it captivating? Maria Toledo's pretty as calla lily voice charmingly complements Getz's masterful playing on tenor sax. This Jobim-arranged-track is a true beauty in the real sense of the word. They are backed by Luis Bonfá (guitar), Antonio Carlos Jobim (piano, guitar), Tommy Williams (bass), Jose Carlos (percussion/drums) and Paulo Ferreira (drums).

Joćo Gilberto, a pioneer of the bossa nova movement himself, sings in Portuguese one of the very best vocal interpretations of "Desafinado," which spotlights Getz's crisp as rhododendron leaves style of playing. The instrumental rendition of this remarkable and widely-recorded tune had earned Getz a Grammy for Best Jazz Performance in 1963.

In conclusion, this is a flawless compilation of Jobim's music recorded at its very best. It really represents the best of Stan Getz whose performances are par-excellence. He was an ace of a saxophonist. There's no doubt in my mind that he was one of the finest saxophonists who ever lived in the world of jazz.

What can I say? Stan Getz at his best. If you like Jazz, you gotta have it!

Legendary tenor saxophonist, Stan Getz, plays the soothe and passionate sounds of jazz Brazilian bossa nova in this exceptional collection of songs from six different records that were recorded between 1962-1964. The highlight of the album is of course "The Girl From Ipanema," vocal and instrumental version and Getz's signature tune, "Desafinado." With contributions from Joćo Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim and guitar great Charlie Byrd, Getz and crew provide the "cool" sounds of South America for your listening pleasure.

Besides the music, the liner notes of the record provide a little background information about the collaborations and the songs. It is interesting to know that Getz was in competition with The Beatles on the Billboard charts in 1964. Indeed, it was not a surprise to know that the boys from Liverpool coveted the number one spot as well as the top ten. But skating by at number two, Stan Getz's rendition of "The Girl From Impanema," which also stayed on the charts for 92 weeks and earned a Grammy Award as well.

Stan Getz Plays Jobim: The Girl From Ipanema is a delightful record to hear. All may breathe a bit of nostalgia for those who swing and swayed to these tunes at the time they were released, heard versions of the songs on their parent's vinyl collection, or even to the extreme, cringed at muzak or elevator music versions some time in their life. Nonetheless, Getz's sultry saxophone and Jobim's relaxing vocals offer a set of songs that may be played at anytime.