Astrud Gilberto, The New Stan Getz Quartet - Getz Au Go Go (Live At Café Au Go Go, 1964 / 2025 Remaster) (1964/2025)

Many live albums from the golden age of jazz have titles that explicitly evoke the storied environs in which they were recorded—Village Vanguard, the Lighthouse, Ronnie Scott's, the Keystone—where the history of the venue imparts its own sort of co-sign on the music that was performed there. Those naming conventions also help the listener imagine themselves in the room at the same time, and, typically, in the name of consistency, these recordings occurred during a single stretch of shows. Getz Au Go Go breaks several of these rules. Its title comes from the storied Greenwich Village club, the Cafe Au Go Go (where Lenny Bruce was arrested and Grateful Dead played their first N.Y.C. show), and indeed, most of these tracks were recorded in that smoky, intimate setting on an evening in May 1964.

However, the cuts that lead off and close the album were recorded quite a few blocks uptown, at Carnegie Hall, later in the year. What happened between May and October? Well, Getz/Gilberto—and "The Girl from Ipanema"—happened. Although the collaboration between Getz and João Gilberto was recorded in early 1963 and not released until March 1964, there was no reason to presume it would have any real success, as the U.S. bossa nova craze of 1962 had seemed to fully run its course by that point. Thus, Getz was booked into the appropriately sized Cafe Au Go Go to play for an appropriately sized crowd late in the spring, and though Astrud Gilberto appears on a couple of the club-recorded tracks, the overall atmosphere is much more focused on cool jazz vibes, rather than Brazilian sabor. About the same time, the Astrud Gilberto-sung "Girl from Ipanema" was released as a single, and suddenly, bossa nova got a major second wind. Not only would the song (and the Getz/Gilberto album) rack up chart success and Grammys, they also became cultural icons. So when Getz would return to New York in the fall, it would be on the storied stage of Carnegie Hall. Notably, although Getz Au Go Go does feature Astrud Gilberto's singing, "The Girl from Ipanema" is not to be found. Producer (and Verve boss) Creed Taylor made the decision to present the album as a seamless show that was more reflective of a warm and jazzy club gig, rather than a cross-cultural symphony hall victory lap. It was a great call, as Getz Au Go Go is a marvelous document of Getz at the peak of his powers as a player. His muscular-but-relaxed style shines on "Summertime" and "Here's That Rainy Day" as much as it does on "Corcovado (Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars)," and the ease with which the band shifts between songbook standards, bossa nova grooves, and forward-looking jazz (Gary Burton's "The Singing Song") is remarkable. So while it may not actually all be from one show (or even one week of shows), it feels that way, making Getz Au Go Go an essential—if overlooked—document of an artist who could deliver the goods on stage … regardless of where that stage was. © Jason Ferguson

Tracklist
1 The New Stan Getz Quartet - Corcovado (Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars) (Live At Café Au Go-Go,1964) [2:59]
2 The New Stan Getz Quartet - It Might As Well Be Spring (Live At Café Au Go-Go,1964) [4:29]
3 The New Stan Getz Quartet - Eu E Voco (Live At Café Au Go-Go,1964) [2:32]
4 The New Stan Getz Quartet - Summertime (Live At Café Au Go-Go,1964) [8:14]
5 The New Stan Getz Quartet - 6-Nix-Pix-Flix (Live At Café Au Go-Go,1964) [1:13]
6 The New Stan Getz Quartet - Only Trust Your Heart (Live At Café Au Go-Go,1964) [4:37]
7 The New Stan Getz Quartet - The Singing Song (Live At Café Au Go-Go,1964) [3:45]
8 The New Stan Getz Quartet - The Telephone Song (Live At Café Au Go-Go,1964) [2:00]
9 The New Stan Getz Quartet - One Note Samba (Live At Café Au Go-Go,1964) [3:19]
10 The New Stan Getz Quartet - Here's That Rainy Day (Live At Café Au Go-Go,1964) [6:19]