A friend and great saxophonist Kenny Pexton recently reminded me of the great Stan Getz, with a great live recording from 1951 which inspired me to revisit the great saxophonist and do some youtube research, and in the spirit of the great jazz legends I have to share this. The recording is from an album called Stan Getz at Storyville and it's burning! I mean you just don't hear this kind of playing anymore... there are other cool things happening, but not this. The band includes Getz on tenor sax, Al Haig on piano, Jimmy Raney on guitar, Teddy Kotick on bass and Tiny Kahn on drums:
With a wild temper off stage, he had one of the warmest tenor sounds, with a bouncy and beautiful feel. Although he was from the Philadelphia/new York area, he played in what could be most closely described as a west-coast style: with a sound and approach of Lee Konitz, Chet Baker and Lennie Tristano. His career took off when he became a soloist in the Woody Herman band. He also flirted with Brazilian music and got international fame with Girl From Ipanema
There are so many recordings to check out from Stan Getz but one of my favorite "different" settings is this one video of Stan Getz and John Coltrane. It's pretty amazing to see how these two incredible and incredibly-different improvisers hold their own voice.
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