Rating:
Genre:
Jazz
Release Date: 05/20/1997
Run Time: 35:37
Partly because of its Brazilian collaborators and partly because of
"The Girl From Ipanema," Getz/Gilberto is nearly always acknowledged as
the Stan Getz bossa nova LP. But
Jazz Samba is just as crucial and groundbreaking; after all, it came first, and in fact was the first full-fledged
bossa nova album ever recorded by
American jazz musicians. And it was just as commercially successful, topping the LP charts and producing its own
pop chart hit single in
"Desafinado." It was the true beginning of the
bossa nova craze, and introduced several standards of the genre (including
Ary Barroso's
"Bahia" and
Antonio Carlos Jobim's
"Desafinado" and
"Samba de Uma Nota Só" [aka
"One Note Samba"]). But above all,
Jazz Samba stands on its own artistic merit as a shimmering, graceful collection that's as subtly advanced -- in harmony and rhythm -- as it is beautiful.
Getz and his co-billed partner, guitarist
Charlie Byrd -- who was actually responsible for bringing
bossa nova records to the U.S. and introducing
Getz to the style -- have the perfect touch for
bossa nova's delicate, airy texture. For his part,
Byrd was one of the first American musicians to master
bossa nova's difficult, bubbling syncopations, and his solos are light and lilting. Meanwhile,
Getz's playing is superb, simultaneously offering a warm, full tone and a cool control of dynamics; plus,
Byrd's gently off-kilter harmonies seem to stimulate
Getz's melodic inventiveness even more than usual. But beyond technique,
Getz intuitively understands the romanticism and the undercurrent of melancholy inherent in the music, and that's what really made
Jazz Samba such a revelatory classic. Absolutely essential for any
jazz collection.
~Steve Huey, All Music Guide
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