Serenity [Live]

Stan Getz | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 21, 1991)
• Original Release Date: May 21, 1991
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B00000479A
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #84,140 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A BEAUTIFUL SWAN SONG, April 8, 2005

By 

Unlucky Frank (Lalaland, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Serenity (Audio CD)

This is quite possibly the most beautiful tenor playing I've ever heard. Getz was never known by his compatriots in jazz for having an abundance of licks in his repertoire. What he WAS respected for was his tone and beauty. SERENITY is a perfect example of that. This LIVE session was recorded in '87 just a few years before Stan's death in '91 and contains part of a beautiful swan song from one of the greatest Masters of West Coast Cool who ever lived. Most of his fans prefer the ANNIVERSARY set from these sessions. To me there was something extraordinary that happened on this night that makes me wish he had never left the stage or us. Every time I put it on I'm overwhelmed by it's smokin' beauty.

Stan said, "I believe you should try to make music as beautiful as you can. It should not be done with ugliness. There's so much hate in the world; you have to counteract it with lovliness."

When I remarked to a friend about this being, maybe the greatest jazz recording I own (and I own a lot of jazz), my friend said, "In all the years I've been going to the Playboy Jazz Festival, Stan Getz is the finest musician I've ever heard play at the Hollywood Bowl." That's a bold statement.

Kenny Barron on piano is the perfect compliment to Stan's gorgeous playing on this.

To say that Rufus Reid on bass and Victor Lewis on drums were on fire that night would be an understatement.

TO HONOR THIS RECORDING PLAY IT THROUGH INFINITY SPEAKERS AT A HIGH VOLUME. (Infinity speakers have the warmest sound I've ever heard for jazz playback.) I HOPE THIS BECOMES ONE OF YOUR FAVORITES TOO.

If you like Late-model Getz go out and get ANNIVERSARY, BLUE SKYS, and PEOPLE TIME. Or if you're on a tight budget buy CAFE MONTMARTRE. It contains ballad selections from SERENITY, ANNIVERSARY, and PEOPLE TIME. IF ONE OF THESE DOESN'T MAKE IT INTO YOUR TOP TEN JAZZ CDS OF ALL TIME, IT'S TIME TO SEE A DOCTOR. SOMETHING MIGHT BE WRONG WITH YOUR HEARING.

ENJOY.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heavenly Stan, December 31, 2005

By 

Jazzcat "stef" (Genoa, Italy Italy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Serenity (Audio CD)

This is a review that I write with extreme pleasure because it's about a couple of discs that I really love since they came out in 1991. I'm talking about "Serenity" and "Anniversary" which are two albums that were recorded both July the 6th 1987 at Cafè Montmartre in Copenhagen. I remember that I heard that Stan already know to be at the end. He gave all that he still had inside here, he played here some of the best music of his life. No doubt. His sound was better than ever, his phrasing absolutly magnificient, unequalled. He was accompanied here by a very talented band, Kenny Barron piano, Victor Lewis drums and Rufus Reid double bass. They swang here as it was the most natural thing to do on Earth. The program is based on standards and it is exceptionally well balanced. It is even a very nice live recording, I may called it almost a "reference" album because it is very natural sounding. I mean, if you want some truly stellar Jazz, some truly stellar ballads and swinger standards, a master at the top of his game ... well let's begin buying these two discs from the immortal Stan getz. Some of the best music he played in his illustrious 5 decades career. You won't regret a single cent spent here. It's some of the best music I have ever listen to in more than twenty years of jazz. Buy both the albums and get the full picture of an heavenly Stan Getz. Maybe you can buy "People time" too. It's a recording that was made in this same period, a double cd set based on Stan and Kenny Barron duets. Fantastic. Believe me.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exuberant, sparkling!, August 24, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Serenity (Audio CD)

This is the second CD culled from the concert which produced the classic, "Anniversary!," and the energy here is not diminished. Getz is buoyant and lyrical as we would expect, with mirthful arpeggios and soulful moans. The rhythm section swings hard. But this CD has a quality which is rare outside of hearing jazz live -- a sparkling immediacy which is exhilarating.