Steve Wyzard FIRST OF THE REST

Remember the bumper sticker that read "Today is the first day of the rest of your life"? Sweet Rain can be considered the first album of "the rest" of Stan Getz's career. By the time it was released in 1967, Stan had already played with Woody Herman and Johnny Smith, conquered Europe, introduced bossa nova to America, and recorded movie soundtracks, albums with strings, and albums with vocalists. While there had been previous hints of things to come, Sweet Rain would do nothing less than epitomize Stan's "sound" for the rest of his career: smaller ensembles, unassuming formats, and the wistful, ethereal tones that only he could produce.

Three phenomenal players accompany Stan on Sweet Rain: a very young (just short of 26) Chick Corea on piano, Ron Carter (doing some session work in between Miles Smiles and Sorcerer) on bass, and the immaculate Grady Tate on drums. This album features the first appearance of the now-standard Corea composition "Windows", and what a performance it is. No "easy-listening" album this, everyone is given ample soloing space, with Stan soaring above it all. Given his recent bossa nova success, one can't help but wonder if Verve Records "influenced" the inclusion of Jobim's "O Grande Amor" and Dizzy Gillespie's "Con Alma". Slight Latin inflections can be detected in the quartet's sound, but this never becomes even close to a bossa nova album. Corea's powerful "Litha" and the dreamy title track complete the set-list. With Creed Taylor and Rudy van Gelder behind the boards, one might expect a CTI Records prototype, but the wonderful performances prove that assumption mistaken (even if it does prove true with Stan's previous album, Voices).

Retro-flashbacks and reunion albums aside, Sweet Rain, over 50 years later still proves to be a definitive recording of the Stan Getz "sound". This American life truly did have a "second act", and it started right here. And though it certainly can't be considered his best album over a very-checkered recording career, it made possible later masterpieces like The Master, Pure Getz, Voyage, and Blue Skies. Sweet Rain is short and (yes) sweet, yet simultaneously unforgettable and all-encompassing. Enjoy!

Steve Wyzard A QUIET MIRACLE

Why did Concord Records wait 13 years to release this magnificent album? Recorded in 1982 at the same sessions that produced the Pure Getz album, Blue Skies did not see release until 1995, four years after Stan's death. The label did an impeccable job with a superlative package, a slipcover, and an endorsement from Stan's son Steve, but the mystery remains as to why it was held back.

Don't for a moment believe this is an "outtakes" album. The six tracks work perfectly together and the four standards all figured prominently in concert performance over the last 10 years of Stan's life. While listening to Blue Skies, adjectives such as light, airy, ruminative, and leisurely may come to mind, but don't dismiss this as an easy-listening, MOR album. Yes, the emphasis is on beautiful ballads, but the uptempo Jim McNeely composition "There We Go" will quickly awaken those who may find themselves "drifting off". Pianist McNeely easily receives just as much soloing space as Stan does, and bassist Marc Johnson makes major contributions throughout, with solos on three tracks. Accusations of austerity are brushed aside with the whimsical take of the title track: the group is clearly having a good time.

Perhaps knowing Stan didn't live to see this album released lends the music a sense of haunted nostalgia. Drummer Billy Hart's brushes are all over these sessions, but that doesn't entirely explain the ethereal, summer-afternoon stillness that's almost palpable. Comparisons with Pure Getz will find Blue Skies more introverted and quieter, yet this album seems far more definitive and intrinsic to Stan's personal style. There are no dirges on Blue Skies, but anyone looking for an aural punch in the gut like Pure Getz's "On the Up and Up" have come to the wrong place.

Posthumous albums still get a bad rap. If the recordings were so good, the skeptic wonders, why weren't they released immediately? There are thousands of reasons/explanations/excuses, and the situations may vary, but when dealing with an iconic yet polarizing figure like Stan Getz, the answers grow even more complicated. Stan recorded so much with a multitude of players in a multitude of locations for a multitude of labels in widely varying genres. To this day he still has a devoted following, but his erratic recorded legacy has not made him hip with the trendsetters and namedroppers. That we still have in print today a quiet masterpiece like Blue Skies (despite its inauspicious start and late release date) is quite simply a minor miracle. Regardless of availability or popularity, this will always be an album to cherish, and one for the ages.

liontime Girl from Ipanema often defines this record for many due to the song's outrageous popularity; however, the seven other songs on this record aren't just filler to try and sell a single as an LP. This album is an excellent blend of jazz and pop.

To me, this is Getz's pinnacle. There are no other recordings where Getz is as sincere, sweet or warm. Joao Gilberto backs Getz wonderfully and takes the spotlight on many occasions, singing even at times. Both sides of the record start with a jazz/pop song featuring Astrud Gilberto whose enthralling voice irresistibly draws one into warm summer nights past.

There's nothing technically ground breaking or particularly imaginative about this album but if that's your qualm, you're missing the point. It's one of the most inviting and captivating records ever made. Put this on anywhere, anytime and drift away.

Amilisom It appears that Stan Getz quickly followed his Jazz Samba album with Charlie Byrd with another bossa nova one later in the year of 1962. Being a collaboration between Stan Getz and Gary McFarland, this album features Stan Getz at the forefront of a big band that was arranged and conducted by Gary McFarland.

I approached this album with eager expectations of hearing Stan Getz's follow up to the Jazz Samba masterwork. But as I continued to return to this album expecting for it to grow on me, I became slowly more and more disappointed that it wasn't as much as I hoped. Instead, I was becoming bored with it.

Not to say the music is altogether bad. At times the arrangements sound pretty good, exploring different textures and featuring solos by the guitar player and the piano player at times. But if I were to compare this to other bossa nova albums, I'd say it lacks the cool authenticity that I've heard when listening to good bossa nova. If I were to compare this with other big band albums, I would say the arrangements lack ideas. In the end, I personally find it a little boring.

5/10

Amilisom When I first heard about this album I thought, "Wow! An album with both Stan Getz and Bill Evans originally recorded in 1964!" What I expected was to experience a truly unique and magical moment with the laid-back styles of Evans and Getz. Absolute cool jazz bliss.

When I began listening, I began to realize that it was, in simple terms, not that way. Many of the tracks have a faint touch of post bop aggressiveness provided by the drummer, who I found myself enjoying more and more throughout the album without knowing who he was. Eventually the time came when my desire to know surpassed my own laziness and I researched this album.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Elvin Jones, the drummer of the famous post-bop album "A Love Supreme" by John Coltrane is drumming for a cool jazz album with Evans and Getz!

It's actually a cool combination. The active feel seems to push Getz and Evans to play a little more aggressively in their solos. There is also a really cool moment in "My Heart Stood Still" where Getz and Evans improvise together, and Elvin Jones takes trade-off solos in "Funkallero". But there are moments where the feel isn't as aggressive. The ballads "But Beautiful" and "Melinda" are beautiful, cool-jazz moments.

Any fans of Bill Evans or Stan Getz who want to hear cool jazz with post-bop flavors from Elvin Jones should look into this album.