Customer Reviews

What The World Needs Now: Stan Getz Plays The Burt Bacharach Songbook

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Stan Getz is one of the finest sax players of the last century. Bacharach is one of the finest songwriters. What is there not to like about this great CD. Cool, Sexy, melodic jazz music with lush arrangements including some bossa-nova rhythms. The sound is clean and spacious. A must for any Getz fan! Great make out music too.

Originally recorded as a novelty piece aimed at a specific "hip" group in the seventies, it turned out to be a classic. The Bacharach tunes are a perfect vehicle for Stan's smooth delivery. The musician's backing him up are among the best in the business. A must have for true connoissers.

The legendary saxaphonist & the great pop songwriter of the 60's & 70's. The songbook is arranged and performed magnificently. Pleasant melodies. You'll want to hum along.

Just listen the track "Windows of the world" and you'll buy it, if you are a fan of Bacharach, blues, bossa-nova, etc.

Some people find this album dull for different reasons. For them Stan is not playing bop enough, he is not inspired enough, or the arrangements are unoriginal, or the sounds bad chosen. I disagree toatally with them. I fell in love with this album the very first time I listened to it (and I own a lot of stellar Stan getz recordings). I find Getz in very good shape here, he played Burt's charts with the heart as they should be played, and with his trademark fabolous sound. He was a master musician in every sense and he displayed here the whys. He truly understood the nature of Bacharach poetry and rendered it really well for me, with tenderness and melancholy. This is not a blowing album and should not be. Stan understtod it quite well. It is an album about tenderness, lonliness and melancholy. I particularly love "Wifes and lovers" a tune that always send me out of my head, but "Windows of the world", "Any old time of the day", "What the world needs now", "Walk on by" are equally superlative versions of those songs. I think the arrangements (with strings, orchestra and voices) are balanced, they respect the nature of Bacharach's music very well and still leave Stan enough space to express his ideas. For real, thisalbum is splendid, I have bought it after these bad reviews and I'mhappy I did it because I'm listening to it again and again. I can't have enough of it. Uh, it's even very well recorded. I'm in front of my hiend stereo system (very precious Avalon-Audio Research system) and I can assure you this one is very well recorded. Absolutly, nice stage, Stan is clearly in the middle, surrounded by the orchestra .. there's only a single disappointing moment in the 6th tune ... at some point you have all the instruments on the left channel ... quite strange )... Anyway, if you love Getz and Bacharach (or simply one of the two) this is a musthave. I'd judged it flawless.

Stan Getz was known as THE SOUND in certain circles. The unmistakable flow of notes from his sax, he rates as one of the most prolific and talented musicians of all time, along with Ben Webster, Dexter Gordon and Charlie Parker, when it comes to playing the sax. It's no wonder this album came to be, considering that Burt Bachrach is one of the world's most talented songwriters. It was only logical these two musical geniuses be partnered in what is a wonderful album. Listeners should be familiar with all these songs, if not alone then by default of knowing the Dionne Warwick versions, two of which are the main standouts here: Stan's treatment of WINDOWS OF THE WORLD is at once stunning and heartfelt; there is a particular passage half way through the song where he flies up and down a scale of notes that really hits the mark. ALFIE, from the popular 60's flick of the same name, is moving and cool; while it's a song with a great lyric, here Stan and his sax "sing" it just as lovely as any vocalist has (and this one's been covered by everyone) The strings of Richard Evans (and in two cases here, the very talented Claus Ogerman) are right on the mark during every song. They are just as much responsible for this collection's merits as Stan himself. Listen to the sultry intro of Stan alone on THE LOOK OF LOVE and then how he effortlessly glides through the sheer strings behind him too make this one his own. Other well covered gems stamped with a fresh cool sound as only Getz could provide are the hokey TRAINS BOATS AND PLANES and the phenomenal heartbreak call of the classic A HOUSE IS NOT A HOME, treated here in an upbeat tempo. (Two versions of this song appear here; the second, previously unreleased, with more reverb included, is my favorite; it seems to swing even more than the original released version. And speaking of unreleased material, as was the case when the VERVE BY REQUEST series hit the shelves, they usually came with bonus tracks. Here we get two; MY OWN TRUE LOVE, unrelated as it was not written by Burt, the theme used from the movie Gone With The Wind, is rendered with the ooh's and ahh's of some 60's chorus voices and the lyrics to the song. Retro-lounge loveliness if ever it was! The same song is the second bonus track, this time without the lyrics, treated here as TARA'S THEME. It's a trifle slower and the tag on the ending is not quite as colorful as when Stan vies for position among the chorus singers in the first version. This is one of the best reissues Verve has ever given us; Classic Getz sound (post Jobim sides) Enjoy it!

Getz and Bacharach. Sounds like a match made in heaven. Who wouldn't like to hear some smooth bossa and bebop arrangements of classic Bacharach tunes? Not so fast, my friend. Like many jazz artists in the 1960's, Getz made a bad choice in recording pop tunes. While this isn't as bad as many pop LP's by jazz artists of the era (that distiction would probably go to Chet Baker's "Blood, Chet, and Tears"), it suffers from poor production and arrangements.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a Getz fan. His tone, style, and interpretations on this disc are the only redeeming things about it. I'm also a closet Bacharach fan, but I can't hold him at fault for these arrangements. I think a combo would have worked better than the string and vocal parts that are here.

There are a few highlights. "Walk on By" and "What the World Needs Now is Love" are my picks. Unfortunately, they are paired with such clunkers as an out-of-tune duet (with Getz himself on overdub?) on "Trains and Boats and Planes".

The reissue by Verve leaves much to be desired. While they promote this disc features Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock, you barely get to hear them at all. The four bonus tracks are simply two alternate takes without production thrown at them and then two takes of Max Steiner's (not Bacharach!!!) theme from Gone with the Wind. The first is rather Sergio Mendes-esque, but the second is more Getz-like. But why would Verve add tracks by another composer on a Bacharach disc?

If you need some musical wallpaper at your next cocktail party, this disc will suit your needs. If you're looking for some good jazz arrangements of Bacharach, I recommend Blue Note's compilation "Blue Bacharach." For better Getz CD's, you should check out one of his releases in Verve's Jazz Masters series or "Getz/Gilberto."

I remember this album since 1970. Actually , the combination of Getz and Bacharach is the basis to this lovely album. The tunes are unforgetable and Getz saxophone is warm and sensivitive...

Since his towering achievement on "Focus", various lables and conductors tried to duplicate that achievement. On this contractual obligation album, Stan does his best to contribute to Pop songs ill-suited to his style and the results are disasterous.

I can't listen to Stan doing "What the World needs now is Love sweet Love" without wincing. So sweet it will make your tooth ache.

Stan said once "We will play what people want, but we are not willing to put on party hats" or words to that effect. Here he is with a party hat and clown makeup. This is not real Getz and this is what drove him to record with Concord, so he could play the music he wanted.

Don't get me wrong, Stan Getz is my favorite sax man, but not all of his stuff was great. Just trying to save you money. Caveat Emptor. See my list for much better Getz albums including "Focus".

Stan is one of my favorite sax players and the songs of Bacharach\David are jewels in my life! So this cd is one i truly enjoy!