Customer Reviews

Stan Getz in Stockholm (Dig)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

(Note the '09 Richman review is referring to the '09 Weinecke lame review, not mine.)

NOTE: The eight bonus tracks shown on this Amazon page are mistakenly listed here, as they are tracks from STAN GETZ IN SWEDEN 1958-60 (Dragon DRCD 263).

First of all, this album is a must have in anyone's jazz collection. Every solo Stan plays on this session is a gem of perfection. I would easily pick this as an album of Getz solos that musicians should transcribe, study and play. You're lucky to finally have it in CD form, so that you can't wear out the vinyl, as you certainly would, as it is THAT great a session.

The liner notes doomed this album. I sincerely believe the reason this album never went down as among Stan's greatest had everything to do with those notes. I recall, at the record shop, reading the notes caused me to actually think about passing on this one! In fact I was kinda surprised that the writer focused so much on Stan's recent illness (from which he was now fully recovered) instead of downplaying it, as is usually the commercial practice. Maybe Verve thought the notes should "prepare" fans to hear a "weak" Stan. Or maybe their idea was that you'd be pleasantly surprised that "sickly" Stan could sound so strong. Verve should have LISTENED to the final, gorgeous results, then had the annotator edit his damned and damning liner! Truthfully, I could never hear anything weak about Stan's playing on this date. He did play with a breathier sound on this date, but that sound just reminded me of the young, cool, "Early Autumn" Stan. What I've always heard in this recording was a rejuvinated Stan Getz, thankful to have survived Malaria, and oh, so glad to be playing at such a high level again with this wonderful rhythm section.

This album also was my introduction to pianist Bengt Hallberg. Wow, right away, his inventive but simple, tasty lines and his communicative accompaniment, interplaying with Stan at times but never cluttering Stan's way, just grabbed my ear. Bengt is active today, and you should seek to find any recordings of him throught his career. As you can sense from the tone of the other reviews, many great European jazz players were automatically--sadly and ignorantly--overlooked and stereotyped as just not quite up to American jazz players' standards. That sort of thinking, like the ridiculous racial biasing we see in jazz, keeps many from the joys of discovering fresh, new approaces to jazz.

For this CD issue Verve Originals did a splended job preserving the original audio, liner notes and cover art. This is one instance where I would advise it is not neccessary to spend big for the Japanese issues.

I generally only write reviews for previously unreviewed CDs on Amazon, but the comments below are so misleading, and ultimately uninformative, that I had to run to Stan Getz's rescue. First, the sound here is just fine -- it was recorded in a Stockholm studio (not live as the item page suggests) in December 1955 with a Swedish rhyhtm trio. Granted Sweden was not a jazz hotbed like NYC, or even Paris, but pianist Bengt Hallberg is quite good and bassist Gunnar Johnson is solid as well. Only drummer Anders Burman, a Dixieland player who only uses cymbal and snare here, leaves anything to be desired. Second, "Stan Getz in Stockholm" holds some historical significance in the tenor saxophonist's biography. In August of '55 he made the very successful West Coast Jazz (see my review), but soon contracted pneumonia and was hospitalized for the next four months. Against doctor's orders, he cut this record during a stop-over on his way to North Africa, in order to heal the adhesion in his lung in a milder, sunny climate. Uninspired, could you play that well with one lung?! So after considering all these factors, and to help offset the ludicrous one-star of the other reviewer, I will award four here (though three is probably more accurate). The only thing I will agree with is that Getz's best work is indeed found elsewhere.

I bought this thinking it would be pretty good, but after listening to it once I doubt if I'll listen to it again. The sound quality is subpar, and Stan doesn't seem inspired. Get his Focus, Stan Getz Plays or Concord Years (with Woody Herman's orch) if you want some prime Getz. Also his early stuff with Jimmy Rainey is excellent.