Stan Getz: tenor; Gerry Mulligan: baritone; Harry Edison: trumpet; Oscar Peterson: piano; Herb Ellis: guitar; Ray Brown: bass; Louis Bellson: drums
Chocolate Sundae / When Your Lover Has Gone / Candy / Ballade: Lush Life - Lullaby of the Leaves - Makin' Whoopee - It Never Entered My Mind / Woody n' You
This disc is a Norman Granz organized set, and what a line-up it is! Stan Getz - the uber-melodic saxophonist, Canada's own Oscar Peterson, the instantaneously-recognizable Gerry Mulligan, and that's just the beginning. The format is that of a jazz jam: a bunch of folks getting together to have a great time playing great music. This is an instance of everything coming together to create an album that will warrant near-exhaustive replays.
The first tune opens with Ray Brown and Bellson feeding off of one another while setting up the groove of the tune. Mulligan enters after a couple of choruses, playing sparse-but-choice notes. Check out the 1:20 mark where the band goes into swing; Brown lays it down and Mulligan leaps off! Peterson nearly destroys the keyboard by the end of his solo, but check out Stan Getz... after Peterson's display Getz, plays it cool by channeling Lester Young; emotive, tasteful and always swinging. A nice foil indeed!
Save for the Ballade, the horns don't play the melody and choose only to solo over the tunes. Nothing to worry about here, Peterson does a bang-up job in the melody department. Another highlight of the disc is Woody n' You, with a nice pseudo-latin intro to set-up Peterson's take on the melody. Check out Ellis's percussive comping which might be mistaken for an unlisted percussionist! All the horn players on this cut are on-point, a wonderful track that gives the listener the feeling of an unrestrained, high-quality jam session.
If you like unfussy, straight-ahead jazz, this disc is a must-have. In fact, even if jazz seems a bit foreign, this recording will be a great addition to your collection!
Price: $10.98