Jsp Records
2007
The Smoothest Operator
About This Album
In this attractively priced, good-sounding four-CD box, JSP does a decent job. Covering just six years in Stan Getz's half-century career, the label focuses on Getz's earliest period as a bebop bandleader (at the ripe old age of 19 after already playing with Jack Teagarden, Stan Kenton, Jimmy Dorsey, and Benny Goodman) and into the beginning of his stature as a true jazz star with Norman Granz's Clef label. Over 98 cuts, which include some of his now legendary Roost recordings, listeners journey through Getz's unique abilities as a true stylist. No matter what he played -- as this material attests -- he had the ability to create music that walked a very fine line between intense artistic imagination and creativity and commercial viability, without sacrificing his soul. Getz may have been an acolyte of Charlie Parker, but before that he had been a true disciple of Lester Young's playing. He integrated both approaches and found his own sound on the tenor: warm, full, and lyrical with incredible speed and dexterity. This box, with better than decent sound, reveals how quickly Getz's development as a leader happened -- even though during many of these sides Getz was still under employ to other bandleaders like Goodman and Woody Herman.
Track List

Disc 1 (try tracks 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,20,21,22,23,24,25 and 26)

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Disc 2 (try tracks 3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22 and 23)

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Disc 3 (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,16 and 17)

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Disc 4 (try tracks 1,2,3,4,6,9,10,11,12,14,16,17,18,19,20,21 and 22)

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