Stan Getz – Big Band Bossa Nova

To begin with, this is not the sort of Bossa Nova one is going to hear from South America, this is an Americanized Bossa Nova for American sensibilities and ears. Secondly, with 1962 taking shape, the world would soon be swept away by the likes of the Beatles and all thing psychedelic, yet still, the 60’s were a time of change and influence, with the beautiful Bossa Nova incarnations that were sweeping across this nation at the time being cool and laid back, a far cry from the intensity of the street Samba that so noisily characterized the Brazilian carnivals.

Today, outside of cultural areas, these sounds are exotic, even romantic, and still, a musical aspiration that has come and gone, where Stan Getz brought about so many delightful and visionary warm notes. With Gary McFarland as an inspiration for this Bossa Nova masterpiece, Getz for a time, shed his American attitudes and fancied himself as the centerpiece for Brazilian musical expression. That said, and whether this album is one’s cup of tea or not, I found myself eagerly waiting on this bit of wax with high anticipations, especially as it was a followup to to the Jazz Samba presentation with Charlie Byrd. But alas, the record never clicked for me, making me think it was a slow-burner, that over time I’d be swept away under its spell, though I never was. For some reason, even to this day, I dislike saying that I was disappointed with the record, forever accepting that there was simply something wrong with my ears that I wasn’t catching the beat or feeling the groove, where if forced to confess, I’d gotten very bored with the record and my attempts to insert myself into its folds and gave up. Now, certainly the arrangements are good and explorative, and yes, the music is not altogether bad with their evolving textures and soloing by Stan’s sax, the piano and guitar, though for me, the record seemed to lack a soul and a spirit of authenticity that I’ve heard other artists express, where if anything, the record lacks that consistent big idea, sounding fractured into smaller good sections, yet never resounding as a cohesive emancipative whole.

The album is developed through four songs by Brazilian composers, along with four compositions by Gary McFarland, that said, the road turns sharply by the instrumentation chosen, the traditional big band format of eight brass and five saxophones for a smaller ensemble featuring four woodwinds and French horn as well as three trumpets and two trombones, with the four piece rhythm section is augmented by two percussionists.

The music found here didn’t simply appeal to audiophiles or jazz purists, the sounds ebbing from this album sent a wave of like-minded offerings thought the rock n’ roll community as well, though so many differing styles and attitudes simply muddied the waters, with no one able to articulate anything holding any actuality. Of course others were totally infatuated by the record, with Don DeMichael of Down Beat Magazine saying, “It seems impossible to improve on a nearly perfect record. This is one of the most musical albums I’ve heard in years.” All while others suggest that the record is entirely lyrical and inventive, where little diamonds have been strewn throughout the record, with the melodic awareness of Getz making him the man of the hour as a soloist, presenting phrasing that is refined and strong, immediate and surrounding, filled with colourful orchestral effects. Of course, simply writing this makes me want to again drop this record onto my turntable, where at last I too will be washed in dreamy elaborations that dissolve into notes that travel up and down the with hauteur … but I know that I’ll never find my way to that spot, feeling it pointless to ever try again.

This is one of those Stan Getz albums that I can’t immerse myself into, but hey, as I said, the world was on the cusp of great changes, where less than a year from the date of this album’s release, the Fab Four would splinter my world so profoundly that it would take years for me to find my way back to what Stan Getz was doing.

Review by Jenell Kesler