Requisites
Pure Getz ~ The Stan Getz Quartet | By Eddie Carter
I enjoy listening to jazz when I’m reading and one of my favorite musicians to hear is Stan Getz. He became a favorite of mine after hearing The Girl From Ipanema and Corcovado from the 1964 album, Getz/Gilberto. I also got to see him perform live as a member of the 1972 Newport Jazz Festival All-Stars at Music Hall on July 6, 1972, in New York City. This morning’s choice from the library is Pure Getz (Concord Jazz CJ-188) featuring his quartet at the time, Jim McNeely on piano; Marc Johnson on bass; Billy Hart (tracks: A3, B1, B2) and Victor Lewis (tracks: A1, A2, A4, B3) on drums. My copy used in this report is the 1982 US Stereo release.
The album opens with an uptempo tune by Jim McNeely, On The Up and Up. The ensemble starts with an invigorating melody, then Stan moves right into a sizzling lead statement. Jim swings hard on the next solo with a bouncy effervescence and spirited lyricism. Marc responds with an impressive presentation that appeals at every turn, and Victor keeps the rock-solid beat flowing into a quick climax.
The pace slows down for Blood Count by Billy Strayhorn, originally written as a three-part work for Duke Ellington titled Blue Cloud. It was Strayhorn’s final composition for Duke before succumbing to cancer on May 31, 1967. Ellington himself only performed the tune twice after Billy’s passing. First at a Carnegie Hall concert later that year in August and on his touching 1968 tribute album in memory of Strayhorn, And His Mother Called Him Bill. The quartet delivers an evocatively moving melody and Getz blows a passionately delicate performance culminating with a compassionate coda.
Very Early by Bill Evans is a pretty tune written early in the pianist’s career that was featured on his 1962 album, Moon Beams. The quartet presents this song at an easy, relaxing tempo with Billy Hart on drums. Marc opens with a tenderly expressive solo, then Jim turns in an enchanting interpretation next. Stan weaves a gentle spell of tenderness on the closing statement with a wonderful warmth and presence.
Sipping at Bell’s by Miles Davis begins with a three-instrument chat between Getz, Johnson, and Lewis. McNeely joins the discussion for the informal melody, then Johnson carves out a clever opening reading. Getz is formidable on the next presentation with a sharp, crisp attack. McNeely permits his fingers full sway on an effectively swift performance, and Lewis connects with a lightness of touch on a brief statement that’s exceptionally smooth.
Side Two starts with I Wish I Knew, written in 1945 by Harry Warren and Mack Gordon. This is a very enjoyable rendition taken at midtempo with the solo order, Getz, McNeely, and Johnson with Hart behind the drums. Stan swings into a soulful tenor solo sticking close to the melody. Jim comes next for a delightfully pleasant reading, then Marc makes an indelible impression on the finale with an inspired statement.
Come Rain or Come Shine by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer was written in 1946 for the Broadway musical, St. Louis Woman and is a jazz and pop favorite with numerous recordings since its inception. The trio opens with a gentle introduction evolving into an emotional communication on the melody. Getz’s sound is perfectly suited to this ballad as he demonstrates on the lead solo with a beautiful tone and thoughtful musicality. McNeely handles the next interpretation with meticulous care, and Johnson closes with a gorgeous bass solo ahead of the leader’s sensuous ending.
Tempus Fugit, aka Tempus Fugue-it, was written in 1949 by Bud Powell and is a play on words meaning “time flies”. The quartet takes off at a torrid tempo on the opening chorus, Jim swings at a ferocious pace on the scintillating first solo. Stan exemplifies boundless energy on the second reading with breakneck speed, then Marc gives the third reading a serious jolt of electrical energy. Victor wraps up the album with some bouncy brushwork before the quartet makes a spirited sprint to the finish line.
The album was recorded by Ed Trabanco and Phil Edwards, and the more I listened, the more I became impressed with the record’s soundstage. The instruments leap out of your speakers with outstanding detail. Stan Getz was one of the master tenor men with a career spanning nearly five decades from the forties to 1990. If you’re a fan of Bebop and Cool Jazz, I offer for your consideration, Pure Getz by The Stan Getz Quartet. An entertaining album that any jazz fan would appreciate!
~ And His Mother Called Him Bill (RCA LSP-3906); Getz/Gilberto (Verve Records V-8545/V6-8545); Moon Beams (Riverside RLP 428/RLP 9428) – Source: Discogs.com
~ Come Rain or Come Shine – Source: JazzStandards.com
~ Blood Count, Tempus Fugit – Source: Wikipedia.org
© 2020 by Edward Thomas Carter
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bill DeArango was born William Louis DeArango on September 20, 1921 in Cleveland, Ohio. A self-taught on guitar, while attending Ohio State University, he played with Dixieland bands at night. After serving in the Army from 1942–44, he moved to New York City and worked first with Don Byas and Ben Webster.
A year later, Bill was playing on an album with Sarah Vaughan, Charlie Parker, and Dizzy Gillespie. Working as a sideman with Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, Ike Quebec, Slam Stewart, he then led his own band with Terry Gibbs.
In 1947, DeArango returned to Cleveland and performed locally for two decades, recorded an album with pianist John Williams in 1954. By the 1960s had opened up a guitar store, taught guitar lessons, and late in the decade, he managed the rock band Henry Tree. Performing regularly in the Seventies at Cleveland’s Smiling Dog Saloon working with Ernie Krivda and Skip Hadden, mixing hard rock and free jazz.
His next recording was on the album Another Time/Another Place by Barry Altschul, then 298 Bridge Street by Kenny Werner, and Names by Jamey Haddad. In 1993, he released his second solo album, Anything Went, with Joe Lovano.
He entered a nursing home in 1999 and suffered dementia until his death seven years later, although he continued performing locally until late 2001. Guitarist William DeArango passed away on December 26, 2005 in his hometown.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Don D.T. Thompson was born in Drumheller, Alberta on September 19, 1932. He played saxophone and clarinet at twelve and began promoting his own jazz concerts, Jammin’ the Blues, in Edmonton at 17. Moving to Toronto, Canada in 1952, he toured Canada and the United States from 1954 to 1958 with Anne Marie Moss.
Save for a period in 1965 and 1966 with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra in the United States, Thompson was a mainstay of the Toronto jazz scene through the 1960s. During the early 1960s, he led singer Tommy Ambrose in a big band ensemble. He appeared regularly at the First Floor Club with small groups and a big band from 1959 until 1965, and was seen in the NFB’s Toronto Jazz with a quintet.
He performed on many CBC TV pop music shows, Club Six and Music Hop and played in several Toronto studio orchestras. In 1961 he recorded as a member of the Pat Riccio Big Band in Ottawa and 1963 saw him with pianist Wray Downes and trombonist Rob McConnell. He also released a record as part of a quintet that included trumpeter Fred Stone.
After touring for ten years beginning in 1971 and recording with pop singer Anne Murray, he returned to jazz. In 1981 moving away from his early bebop-based style he landed on a simpler, full-toned, melodic approach in the manner of a Stanley Turrentine. D.T. wrote and recorded several jazz themes; his pop-song arrangements appear on albums by Murray, John Allan Cameron and Gordon Lightfoot.
Saxophonist, composer, and arranger Don D.T. Thompson passed away in Vancouver, Canada on March 21, 2004.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
John L.Thomas was born September 18, 1902 in Louisville, Kentucky, but relocated to Chicago, Illinois as a child, receiving his formal education in the Windy City. Sliding into on-stage trombone performances with the Clarence Miller Orchestra around 1923. Between 1927 and 1928 he worked with Erskine Tate, which led to his entry into Louis Armstrong’s legendary Hot Seven, replacing Kid Ory in Armstrong’s band and also played with Erskine Tate, among others, becoming associated with the Chicago jazz scene.
He was briefly with McKinney’s Cotton Pickers for jobs in the Northeast in the ’30s; in 1937 he was part of a touring revue fronted by pianist and singer Nat King Cole. He was once again with Tate as well as drummer Floyd Campbell’s outfit prior to switching his trombone case for the tool kit of a defense plant worker during the Second World War. That hiatus from playing took place prior to dropping out completely during the ’50s, as he did gig once again in a group led by guitarist Walter Dysett in 1944.
He had a wonderful repertory band led by Franz Jackson with which Thomas performed and recorded through the first half of the ’60s. The ’50s, on the other hand, may have simply depressed the trombonist with its onslaught of rock & roll, because he simply stopped playing completely representing the first major halt in musical action for this performer since his professional activities began in the Roaring Twenties.
The trombonist continued working with a wide range of classic jazz bandleaders, including trumpeter Freddie Keppard. Preferring to move in and out of groups such as that of the aforementioned Tate and Reuben Reeves, in one lineup and then out of the next. Trombonist John L. Thomas passed away on November 7, 1971 in Chicago, Illinois.
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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
Alone With The Blues is the first solo album by pianist Ray Bryant. Recorded on December 19, 1958 at the Van Gelder Studios in Hackensack, New Jersey, it was released end of May or early June of 1959 for the New Jazz label. The session was produced by Esmond Edwards.
Though he was equally adept with the blues, he was recognized at the time as a modern traditionalist. All compositions by Ray Bryant except Lover Man (Jimmy Davis, Ram Ramirez, Jimmy Sherman) and Rockin’ Chair (Hoagy Carmichael).
Track Listing | 37:49- Blues No. 3 ~ 7:15
- Joy (Blues No. 2) ~ 3:59
- Lover Man ~ 3:52
- Me and the Blues (Blues No. 1) ~ 5:00
- My Blues (Blues No. 5) ~ 7:40
- Rockin’ Chair ~ 5:16
- Stocking Feet ~ 4:47
- Ray Bryant ~ piano
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