Stan Getz - Vintage Getz (2003)

"It's a pleasure to be here" says Stan Getz, surveying the Californian landscape from the open-air stage he's performing on. "It's different to the dives I play in." And it clearly inspired this famously uncompromising saxophonist in the performance that's captured on this DVD-Video.The first set is chiefly made up of material by pianist Jim McNeely. who writes with a fine melodic touch, and it sets the great cool saxophonist off into a series of beautifully-shaped improvisations that will repay many viewings and listenings. Stan`s quartet also includes a scintillating rhythm team is bassist Marc Johnson, who had come from working with Bill Evans in the pianist's last trio, and drummer Victor Lewis. A brisk canter through Bud Powell's bebop classic 'Tempus Fugit' is the climax of the set, and will leave you eager for more.There's a brief nod to his popularity as one of the leaders of jazz bossa nova in the sixties, and a delightful treatment of Dave Brubeck's engaging theme 'In Your Sweet Way'. But the major setpieces in the programme are Stan`s astonishingly beautiful ballad interpretations of two Billy Strayhorn compositions: 'Lush Life', dedicated to the memory of the saxophonist's father, and the haunting 'Blood Count', a piece which Strayhorn completed in the last days of his life. The glorious Getz tone has never sounded better than it does here. Once again, there's inventive and full-bodied support from the accompanying trio of Jim McNeely, Marc Johnson and Victor Lewis, and an appropriately enthusiastic audience too.

Artists:
- Stan Getz: Sax
- Jim McNeely: Piano
- Marc Johnson: Bass
- Victor Lewis: Drums


Tracklist:
01. Over the Edge
02. From the Heart
03. Answer Without Question
04. Sippin' at Bells
05. Spring Can Really Hang You up the Most
06. Tempus Fugit
07. Lush Life
08. Desafinado
09. Girl From Ipanema
10. Alone Together
11. It's You or No-One
12. In Your Own Sweet Way
13. Blood Count
14. Medley: Desafinado & Girl From Ipanema


Features:
- Direct Scene Access
- Interactive Menu