Jazz

The Stan Getz Quartet @ Chet Baker Quintessence V2 [Jazz][mp3 320][h33t][schon55]

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The Stan Getz Quartet @ Chet Baker - Quintessence V2
Year: 1983
Release: 2000
Label: Concord Jazz
Time: 42:48
Bitrate: 320 kbps

Be sure and read the notes on Quintessence V1 ~ Schon55

It is my great pleasure to present volume two of "Quintessence," the classic recording of two jazz giants, Stan Getz and Chet Baker, from a concert performed in Norway in 1983. It would be the last known recording of the two of them together; hence it is a jazz treasure of considerable measure. Stan Getz and Chet Baker epitomized cool, vivid storytelling, wit, romance and charm — they were masters of the sacred art of "less is more" in the notes they played and that gorgeous sound in which they played them! My favorite track is "It's You Or No One."

It is a perfect representation of why jazz music is so great — it swings, it's relaxed, it makes you feel good. I hear that "old Getz swagger," that loose as a goose feel, swaying back and forth, and hip! My father was a master of creating that zone in his solos-imitators never came close. As the years go by we appreciate him. all the more, we realize he was, without question, one of a kind.

The rhythm section shines throughout — pianist Jim McNeely, George Mraz on bass and Victor Lewis on drums. My good friend Dr. Herb Wong, follows with his impressions of this music. I hope you enjoy the music! ~ Steve Getz, Producer

This latest posthumously produced CD of Stan's once again speaks to the brilliance of this man. This time, he is joined by Chet Baker in a recording that allows one to savor a taste of what great jazz, and for that matter, great entertainment is all about. The combination of these two giants brings an excitement to the listener in the same way that Garland, Sinatra or Aznavour brought (and bring) to their performances -that sense that somehow you are experiencing greatness intended for your ears only.

I was very close to Stan and his entire family throughout my life. I remember him sitting with me in the rotunda-shaped music room of his Westchester estate, as I held my clarinet in my hands at the age of eleven. He sat on a stool, and, through a cloud of cigarette smoke, very seriously told me (as only "The Man" could do) that I needed to know the lyrics to the songs I was playing to understand the "essence" of the melody. He never spoke like a jazz musician to me - no "hey man," or "dig it" - but more like a fatherly professor who wanted you to hear what he had to say. If you weren't listening, he'd dismiss you in a moment with the flair of Professor Henry Higgins in "My Fair Lady" -but, in Stan's case, always rubbing you on the head and saying "Go play, boychick!" (a Yiddish term for "little boy").

Stan's playing was constantly on the money - you could always rely on the fact that, if you paid the price of admission, you would experience brilliance. You can hear this in the melodic riffs that flow between Chet's lyrics in I'm Old Fashioned, or Just Friends, where Chet sings from the heart of a trumpet player, intoning staccato scats which pick up on each little nuance, while still (as Stan might have said), "keeping it under-complicated.

This CD is one that has to be listened to many times to capture all of the subtleties - textures, if you will - that underlie each cut. I once asked Dizzy Gillespie why he thought Stan was such a great musician. He looked at me with that trademark twinkle in his eye and said "He flirts with the melody." That is heard so clearly on this CD. Stan's technical expertise is superseded only by his melodic delicacy.

Yeah, Diz, he "flirts with the melody" alright - he makes love to it! ~ Harris Stratyner

( Dr. Harris Stratyner is Director of Addiction/Recovery Services for the New York Presbyterian Hospital, Westchester Division, and the United Hospital Medical Center. )

From the age of 18, when I first heard Stan Getz, I knew from that moment that I had to play the tenor saxophone. Stan's tone, feeling, and his approach to Swing was completely new to me at that time. But I felt something wonderful and happy -and, at the same time, something very sad (in the ballads).

Stan was my life-long idol - and he was also my friend. There were other great saxophonists - 'Trane, Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter - who also influenced me. But it was Getz's musical consistency in his recordings that always moved me in a way I sometimes find hard to comprehend. The man made great records! Like Frank Sinatra, he understood the lyrics, the form, and the right way to interpret great music. Stan was the "Frank Sinatra of the Saxophone."

I had the opportunity to sit in with Stan when he performed at a jazz club I used to book in Pacific Beach, San Diego, California - a place called "The Catamaran." It was a moment I will always treasure. Another time, Stan came to hear me, telling me after my set was over: "Nice chops, Marillo." Now, that's a thrill. He was always supportive, always kind to me.

I hope the young saxophonists starting out today will listen to Getz, as I encourage my students to do. He was - and is - a great inspi-ration for any musician to draw on.

Today, my dream has come true - some of my listeners say I sound like Stan. Well? - I certainly try to, with no apologies about it. He was the very best! ~ Joe Marillo

The similarity of Stan Getz's and Chet Baker's shared beginnings is well known to most fans; both were extremely good-looking, unusually gifted, and both very much "bad boys." Perhaps the most desirable musical guality common to them both is the ability to "play on their feet": that is, to dare to play whatever you've got at the moment in your head at the moment your playing it. It demands musical integrity to simply do that, but it requires genius to produce, within that context, a work of art.

This "first time" feeling is perhaps the quality I find most appealing in Chet's singing and playing throughout these tracks. His youthful, even boyish innocence would disarm even the most discerning critic, I'm sure. He's not trying to "play" someone else, here - he's playing who he was at the time, and that takes plenty of guts!

As stated earlier by Steve, this music may well have been recorded in the autumn of their years. But to the listener, it might as well be spring! ~ Michael McGovern

( Michael McGovern is a New York-based trumpet player highly active on the commercial studio circuit, and is a veteran section member of big bands including those of McCoy Tyner, Thad Jones and Buddy Rich. )

Personnel:
Stan Getz, tenor saxophone
Jim McNeely, piano
George Mraz, bass
Victor Lewis, drums,
Chet Baker, trumpet/vocal

The Stan Getz Quartet @ Chet Baker - Quintessence V2 tracks:
01 Conception (Shearing) 7:28
02 We'll Be Together Again (Fischer, Laine) 6:43
03 I'll Remember April (DePaul, Johnston, Raye) 8:49
04 Blood Count (Strayhorn) 4:12
05 It's You or No One (Cahn, Styne) 6:33
06 Airegin (Rollins) 5:22
07 Line for Lyons (Mulligan) 1:53

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