Tenor saxophonist Stan Getz found a perfect accompanist in pianist Kenny Barron, who would regularly play in his group for his last five years. This out-of-print Black Hawk LP finds the pair, along with bassist George Mraz and drummer Victor Lewis, performing two standards and four more recent pieces, including two ("Dreams" and "Voyage") by Barron. The music is difficult to classify (modern bop?) but relatively easy to understand; Getz never coasts.
Like this truly excellent and ridiculously difficult to find album that features Stan Getz and Kenny Barron in beautifully languid "after hours" mode. Find it if you can and then wonder why among the tens of thousands of mediocre LP's out there one of this quality remains deleted. Very highly recommended.
Track Listing:
1 I Wanted to Say
2 I Thought About You
3 Yesterdays
4 Dreams
5 Falling in Love
6 Voyage
The Quintet:
Stan Getz - Sax (Tenor)
Kenny Barron - Composer, Piano
Victor Lewis - Composer, Drums
George Mraz - Bass
Babatunde - Conga & Brushes (Dreams track 4)
Recorded March 9,1986 on the Blackhawk Label and is catalog number BKH 51101
Review:
There have been a number of Getz releases in the past few years, many of them not worth listening to, live sessions recorded without Stan's knowledge. This obscure Blackhawk release is a classic of cosmic dimensions. All Getz fans will want to get this one.
One of the best of the late Getz albums, previously available only as an import. Previously filed as a Kenny Barron album(!), features Getz and his "soul-mate" pianist who accompanied him for the last decade of his life.
Yeah, he plays two Barron songs, but Stan the Man's out front. Smooth and burnished like "Ballads and Bossas", lyrical, gentle, quiet, slightly sad, Vintage Getz. From nearly the same period as B&B, and "Anniversary", this album deserves much wider appreciation. Late Getz and mid Barron, both in prime form.
Mostly Ballads, Getz soars over the rest like a big eagle. Stan blows sculpted blue fog notes, weaves dreams. Victor Lewis on drums and Babatunde on brushes provide a steady hypnotic beat.
"I Thought about You" is ravishingly lyrical. This romantic, hot air balloon trip mood continues through "Yesterdays", "Dreams" and "Falling in Love". Ironic as it may seem, the title track may be the weakest track on the album. Getz and Barron listen carefully to each other and give one another room to stretch out.
One of my favorites, but difficult to find, buy it when you can.
Have some wine, sit back and drink it in. Well recorded session.
Stan Getz said that Kenny Barron was the other half of his jazz heart. Until now Voyage has been virtually impossible to find but it belongs to the finest albums Getz recorded. Always the lyrical player, Getz seemed to play with an even greater ease and depth later in his career. This album is beautifully recorded, features the gorgeous piano of Kenny Barron and provides an album of songs that is both sensual and painfully beautiful.
End Review:
One of the all-time great tenor saxophonists, Stan Getz was known as "The Sound" because he had one of the most beautiful tones ever heard. Getz, whose main early influence was Lester Young, grew to be a major influence himself and to his credit he never stopped evolving.
This was an ad of a copy I sold on Audiogon last year. Posted here as FYI.
