Search - Bill Evans Trio, Stan Getz :: But Beautiful (Featuring Stan Getz)

He's human (thank God!) [But hold on--]

Samuel Chell | Kenosha,, WI United States | 07/14/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"[After writing the review below, I've had a chance to listen to the CD several more times. It's not Bill but Stan who messes up on "But Beautiful". Twice he plays the last 16 bars of the tune when he should be playing the first 16. Either he was shaky on the melody or unnerved by Bill's stonewalling him on the preceding blues. In any case, the 40 minutes worth of music that follows the title tune is definitely 5 stars.]This is the second and most successful of the recorded musical meetings between two giants. The first was a 1964 studio session that, for various reasons, didn't click; "But Beautiful," on the other hand, is a 1974 European concert recording kept in the vaults until 1995. It's a strong outing by Getz (don't be thrown by previous reviews) but a rather tentative, uneven offering on Bill's part. There's some extra-musical drama unfolding during the concert. Bill was miffed when Stan, despite earlier assurances, launched into an unannounced, unrehearsed blues, "Stan's Blues," for the second number of the set. As a result, he sat impassively at the piano, refusing to play and even forbidding Eddie Gomez to take a bass solo. Under the circumstances, Getz carries on practically heroically, taking the tune entirely upon his own shoulders and submitting a series of inventive, grooving choruses in F. The next tune is "But Beautiful," and Bill does something I've never heard him do on record: he loses track of the chord progression for the last eight bars of the song during Getz' solo!After this halting beginning, the foursome settles down, with Bill's trio turning in an uncharacteristically swinging, straightahead set behind the irrepressible Stan, especially on a driving "Funkallero." Then immediately following "The Peacocks" Stan more than makes amends to Bill, offering him a big bouquet of musical roses in the form of an unaccompanied "Happy Birthday" (it was the day of Bill's 44th).If you're new to Stan, this set certainly offers far more of his tenor mastery than the Verve samba recordings. There's also some good Evans, though the playing by Bill or for that matter his trio is frequently more suggestive of his bop-oriented musical approach before 1959. And contrary to a previous reviewer's recommendations, the best Evans is not on Verve (Bill himself faulted the sound engineering of Rudy Van Gelder). Go to the early Riversides ("Sunday at the Village Vanguard") and the late Fantasies ("The Paris Concert")."

This is what the first album should have been

Rick loves jazz | Sacramento, Ca | 03/01/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Stan Getz and Bill Evans got into the recording studio together one time before, and the outcome wasn't what anyone had hoped for. The two had no chemistry, the tempi were too fast, and the type of beauty that you might expect from the pairing of two of the most melodic players that jazz ever produced just wasn't there.



This album was actually recorded by radio stations in Europe during a concert tour during which Getz agreed to join Evans' usual trio as a "special guest" and the outcome was completely different.



This album is everything that the first one wasn't. Stan's tone is it's most luminous, he and Bill listened to each other and played great together! Highlights include the title track, "The Peacocks", "Emily" and many others. There isn't a bad song on the album, and most of it is everything that you might expect of a pairing of the two.



My only beef with this album is the way that it was recorded. It is way too bass-y, and I have to fiddle with the tone controls every time that I play it. The music is so good that I can overlook the techincal problems, and you should too."

Mindblowing!

Okan Koç | Istanbul | 05/19/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the penultimate album to have! (you will forever be looking for your ultimate jazz album, because any album you will declare as the ultimate will be bested by another one arriving seemingly out of nowhere!)

anyways the sound I'm looking for is here, I feel like I'm back in the 50s when I hear this album, dining in a very high-class restaurant and the music that plays on inside, leads to soulsearching most intense.."