Stan Getz VOYAGE

I got home late last evening, and only gave a cursory listen to the Voyage disc. I am sure that I will come to like it very much, but on first casual listen, I wasn't "blown away" in the same way as I was with Anniversary or The Lost Sessions. Again, to put it in context, I only listened to it once and I was tired.
One thing that I can say with certainty is that the recording was a little disappointing. It isn't bad by any means, but the way Stan's sax was recorded was not as good as on The Lost Sessions. On The Lost sessions, you can hear his breath and the sound of the reed so clearly, and yet it is balanced with the sound of the rest of the instrument. Those sounds add so much to the expression of the playing when they are clearly reproduced, and on the Voyage disc, it didn't seem as clear. I also noticed that when he played certain loud notes, it sounded a little peaky, bordering on uncomfortable. Overall, the sound was good, but I am comparing to The Lost Sessions which is very good. I look forward to getting very familiar with this disc.
Thanks for the heads up Frogman!

I received the CD yesterday.
It's a very sentual album. Very relaxing and well recorded.
Not as close miked as some of Stans recordings, but it sounded just right to me.
Thank you Frogman for bringing this album to my attention.
It's a great addition to my collection.
John

Digging through my archives of vinyl found I do have a issued of this on Vinyl. Blackhawk label released 1986. No need to get the CD issue, has same tracks as the current CD issue.

Great stuff here. Also Lost Sessions is very good as well.

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.

What I got out of it was there wasn't the details that kick the audiophlia in to the listening. I can listen to the recording and just enjoy the music instead of analyzing
the usual depth of soundstage, image positioning and the ring of the sax bell. It's just a more simple recording that lets me concentrate on the music.