Stan Getz VOYAGE

You are welcome, Albert. Roxy54, it is available on CD, a couple of copies on ebay right now.

"Voyage", it is! The Audiogon gremlins strike again. Have no idea why the title did not appear next to Stan Getz. Sorry about that. Enjoy.

There are so many beautiful moments on this record. One of the moments that just kills me, and which is a testament to the excellence of this rhythm section, happens in the first six measures of Barron's solo in "I Thought About You". If you are ever asked by someone: "what is jazz?", play this cut for them, and point out what happens in those first six measures. It is a perfect example of intuitive, improvisatory interplay by two great musicians. It is the essence of jazz.

On that cut, Getz solos with his usual brilliance. He is followed by Barron. Listen to how Mraz does much more than just outline the chord changes; he is having a conversation with Barron. Barron plays a motif going into the fifth measure, and Mraz answers. Then, in the sixth measure, the magic happens. The two are so keyed into each other's playing that the interplay leads to a statement in perfect unison. This is not scripted nor preplanned, it is spontaneous. Great stuff.

Roxy54, and Zmanastronomy, you are welcome. A couple of additional thoughts about this recording, and "Lost Sessions". The relative merits of each are just a matter of personal taste, and personal priorities.

"Lost Sessions" is clearly a wonderful recording of wonderful performances. One of the things that makes "Voyage" particularly good to my ears is that it sounds less like a studio recording than "Lost Sessions" does. Now, keep in mind that I don't have "Voyage" on CD, only on LP. So, as far as sonic attributes go, I am comparing an LP to a CD. Having said that, I can much more easily forget that I am listening to a quartet playing in a studio with "Voyage" than I can with "LS". On "LS" intruments are much more closely miked. The extra apparent detail detracts from the sense that the players are playing in the same space. Roxy54, the extra reed/breath sound heard on "Voyage" is, to me, an artifact. I say "extra" because there is still lots of Getz's distinctive breathiness apparent on "Voyage", but on "LS" there is a clear sense that he is playing into a microphone. The result, to my ears, is that his sound has less velvet, and a little more grunt than is natural. An interesting sidebar is the fact that while one hears more of the air coming out the bell of the horn (the result of closer micing), Stan's intake of air before he plays a phrase is much more apparent on "Voyage". Again, different micing techniques. And the differences should not be surprising given producers Alpert's, and Wong's musical backgrounds. Listen to the very end of "Feijoada" on "LS", as Stan's very last note decays, you can hear Alpert's very subtle use of reverb on the horn; arguably, a distraction.

As far as the music goes, both recordings are clearly terrific. The qualitative differences that I hear between the two are put into perspective by Ferrari's point that "Voyage" was originally Kenny Barron's session. Barron is on fire on some of those cuts, and the rhythm section as a whole feature themselves more than on "LS", where there is a subtle sense that they are deferring to the leader (Getz). Fine points to be sure, but they add up to performances that are, overall, even more exciting. Both great records of great music making.

Kencalgary, if you can find it, Verve reissued both the Getz/Bill Evans sessions, and the Getz/Chick Corea sessions as a double album. If you can find a good copy (or the originals), they are some of my favorite Getz.

Bingo!

Thanks Ferrari; should be great.