Customer Reviews

Sweet Rain (Dig)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I first listened to this CD, I wasn't that impressed and thought it was kind of bland, especially compared to the Getz/Corea collaboration "Captain Marvel" from 1972 which I had found very exciting. But I was busy at the time working and wasn't really listening all that carefully; also, I listened to it on my boom box in my office instead of on my stero in our family room. I did listen to it twice more last night with my headphones while my wife was watching the Golden Globes and was really impressed by the playing of the entire quartet: Getz, Ron Carter on bass, Grady Tate on drums, and Chick Corea on piano. I just listened to it again on my stereo and find that it is really growing on me. The entire group plays and sounds great. I especially like the way the rhythm section often plays fairly fast underneath Getz's slower melodies. Of course, Getz can also play fast and does so now and then. I had planned on giving this CD 4 stars, but ended up giving it 5 after this fourth hearing. So, if you buy this, give it time to grow on you like I did.

The original liner notes by Johnny Magnus for this album are lousy, wasting lots of space talking about when he first heard Getz, how they looked alike, and when they first met years later. Magnus follows this up with drivel about how Stan Getz rescued Jazz with his Bossa Nova recordings from a few years before this album. Maybe he wasn't listening to all the great Blue Note albums from the early 60s. He doesn't even say who the composer of the title track, Mike Gibbs, is. (He's a jazz composer, arranger, musician, and teacher originally from Zimbabwe who was active in the Jazz fusion scene in the 1970s and recorded "Sweet Rain" on his debut album "Michael Gibbs" in 1970.)

While Amazon, BMG Music, and Verve all list this CD as being remastered in 2008, I do not see any evidence of remastering in the liner notes or CD cover. I happened to have ordered this from BMG and would not be surprised if they or Verve packaged up the old version instead of the remastered version. That being said, the artwork on the cover matches what the websites show. The insert in the back of the CD case does include a 2008 copyright. Anyways, it sounds great, so I really have no reason to complain.

Verve clearly hasn't looked at how Blue Note re-issues their great recordings from this period, many of which were originally recorded and remastered by Rudy Van Gelder (who also happened to have engineered the original version of this album). Blue Note provides the original liner notes along with updated notes that talk about the historical significance of the album and how they fit within the output of the featured artists.

"Sweet Rain" is Getz's best release from the late 60s. Everything about this album is just amazing. Getz is joined by Chick Corea on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Grady Tate on drums. I'm not a big fan of Chick Corea, but will admit his playing here is some of the best I've heard from him. Ron Carter and Grady Tate need no introduction both are accomplished jazz musicians. Getz sounds beauiful as always. I highly recommend "Sweet Rain."

Why Chic Corea's composition "Litha" is not a jazz standard is beyond me. Perhaps it would be hard to top the version laid down here. This is a classic recording of a timeless quartet. In 1967, Getz returned to the straight-ahead world with one of his all time best efforts on record. The short samples given here do not give it justice.

The album moves flawlessly from beginning to end. Perfectly paced with nice time changes within the tunes themselves. A young acoustic Chic Corea before he plugged in is a joy. Would Richard Davis and Roy Haynes been a better fit for this group? The thought has popped in my head through the years, but Ron and Grady do very nicely. It is the rhythm section that give the recording it's unique airy sound.

But Getz is the star here and he shines brightly, and remains my all time tenorman.

To my ears, this 1967 recording anticipates a lot of what Stan would record during the 1980s. He plays with a hip young rhythm section - here it's Chick Corea, Ron Carter and Grady Tate - with a looser post-bop feel and some relatively adventurous compositions (two by Corea and one by Mike Gibbs; there's also a gorgeous rendition of "O Grande Amor" and a feisty "Con Alma").

The Corea compositions are both particularly great - "Litha" had already been recorded for Corea's debut, Tones for Joan's Bones, and "Windows" would be an outtake from Corea's 2nd album Now He Sings, Now He Sobs. "Windows" is just great - its Coltrane-ish waltz rhythm, it inspires Getz to some gorgeous, passionate playing.

If you're open to hearing Getz away from a bebop or bossa nova rhythm section, this one is a must. Assuming you love Getz's quartet albums for the 80s - albums like Blue Skies, Pure Getz, Anniversary, Serenity, etc - you'll definitely love this one too.

... For instance, it's like this 1967 recording is contemporary in overall sound and execution; Getz's approach to sound and improvisation seems to be quite influential nowdays, incorporated into the work of younger musicians... Also, the music is at moments just plain LOVELY in the old fashion sense, when people cared more deeply (and more often) about the BEAUTY of the sound...
This album is for all sorts of jazz (and even fusion) fans.
Others have said and written alot about Getz; he is probably one of the best sax players I've ever heard and there's a calmness in his music that's like the eye of the storm, suggesting the tumult around it...
The quartet works beautifully together...The interplay of the band is great (Chick Corea on piano, Ron Carter on bass, Grady Tate on drums) and there are worthwile solos by Corea and Carter worthy of Getz's leadership.
And yes, the original liner notes reprinted here are quite silly and pointless.
BTW
This CD is also somewhat confusing for me in one respect - I went to a Chick Corea in my town some two years ago; this album is recorded over 40 years before that concert took place...
Is that guy for real? How old is he? He looked quite youngish, playful and quite energetic on the concert (he played with the banjoist Bela Fleck)...

I am a big Getz fan and this is one of his better efforts. I don't play it more than some of his others, but I don't play it less, either- which is high praise for me.