Teasing the Korean Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 (edited) I've accumulated lots of stuff by both artists over the decades, but I only recently stumbled across this. I'm talking about the 1964 session. It is certainly nothing great, but I don't think it's as bad as some of the reviews I've read. Stan Getz seems really scattered and disjointed at times - it's like he's throwing out ideas with no sense of continuity. Bill Evans generally sounds good. There is a spot on "My Romance," I think, where I expected a piano solo but there's just bass and drums, both of which just continue with the groove as opposed to soloing. Not sure if that was deliberate, or if Bill wanted to abandon the take at that point. I have the 70s twofer vinyl issue. The CD has more tracks. I wonder if the best ones were on the LP and the weaker ones made it to the CD, and if so, if reviewers are picking up on the bonus tracks. Edited December 15, 2009 by Teasing the Korean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stereojack Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 The story goes that this session was considered a failure, and that neither artist wanted it to be released. It first came out in the early 1970's, after both had left the label. I always thought that they seemed a little detached, not really hitting on all cylinders. When the session came out on CD, I gave it another chance, and over the years I've come to like it quite a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 This was one of the very first jazz albums I ever owned, and certainly the first time I had (knowingly) listened to either Getz or Evans (not to mention Elvin Jones). I've always LOVED this album, even after I heard all of their other works... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 The story goes that this session was considered a failure, and that neither artist wanted it to be released. It first came out in the early 1970's, after both had left the label. I always thought that they seemed a little detached, not really hitting on all cylinders. When the session came out on CD, I gave it another chance, and over the years I've come to like it quite a bit. If you have the dreaded "Metal Box" of Evans, you can tell by the alt. tk's & false starts that they were struggling during this session. IMHO, one of the worst in the Evans' Verve catalog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 (edited) "Funkalerro"'s a bad motherfucker, but the rest of it didn't move me one way or the other. Edited December 15, 2009 by JSngry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrdlu Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 I love the album, and have ever since it first came out. "Night and Day" really cooks, and is followed by a great "But Beautiful". But I like it all, including the joke item where Bill plays stride and Elvin imitates Gene Krupa. It's good to hear Stan and Bill with Elvin (the only time for Bill, I think), not to mention Ron Carter and Richard Davis. This was a kinda unauthorized release in 1974, produced by someone who didn't know much about it. Two other precious, unapproved Verve albums that they also put out at that time are one with the Clark Terry - Bob Brookmeyer quintet, and one of various items by Gil Evans, including a marvelous quartet version of "Cheryl" (trombone and rhythm section) that was excluded from the CD issue. (Michael was in one of his pompous moods when he produced the CD, lol.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teasing the Korean Posted December 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 If you have the dreaded "Metal Box" of Evans, you can tell by the alt. tk's & false starts that they were struggling during this session. IMHO, one of the worst in the Evans' Verve catalog. Do you sense that they were having an off day, or was there something weird going on between SG & BE? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 If you have the dreaded "Metal Box" of Evans, you can tell by the alt. tk's & false starts that they were struggling during this session. IMHO, one of the worst in the Evans' Verve catalog. Do you sense that they were having an off day, or was there something weird going on between SG & BE? I think it's both in this case. While a couple of things work, there just seems to be a lack of connection between Getz & Evans. In some way, even though they have similar styles, yet, at the root of the thing, there is, to my ears, a lack of compatibility between the two. But, who knows, maybe they couldn't get a score that day, so they were off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Friedman Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 (edited) Though this session does not have the very best playing by either Getz or Evans, I nonetheless find it quite enjoyable. Edited December 15, 2009 by Peter Friedman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teasing the Korean Posted December 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU. DID YOU SAY IT'S UNBEARABLE? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fasstrack Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 The story goes that this session was considered a failure, and that neither artist wanted it to be released. It first came out in the early 1970's, after both had left the label. I always thought that they seemed a little detached, not really hitting on all cylinders. When the session came out on CD, I gave it another chance, and over the years I've come to like it quite a bit. If you have the dreaded "Metal Box" of Evans, you can tell by the alt. tk's & false starts that they were struggling during this session. IMHO, one of the worst in the Evans' Verve catalog. I don't think it's as bad as all that. Bill sounds a bit intimidated by Elvin and somehow not at his best, but there's still good playing by heavyweights on this. I thought Stan sounded fine. It's worth having and playing once in a while b/c it's a band of this caliber. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinmce Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 I have it paired w/ the Chick Corea session which is indeed much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrdlu Posted December 16, 2009 Report Share Posted December 16, 2009 There is absolutely no way that Bill would have been intimidated by Elvin. Apart from anything else, Bill's favorite drummer was Philly Joe, not Paul Motian or some other lighter sounding drummer. And I don't have a decibel meter, but Philly Joe and Elvin were about equally loud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartyJazz Posted December 16, 2009 Report Share Posted December 16, 2009 "Funkalerro"'s a bad motherfucker, but the rest of it didn't move me one way or the other. I recommend the live version of "Funkallero" done by Evans' trio with Getz as guest artist performed at Laren in '74. The CD is titled BUT BEAUTIFUL (Milestone MCD-9249-2) released under Evans' name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teasing the Korean Posted December 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 In the liner note to the 70s twofer album I picked up, Bob Blumenthal states that the reason the LP wasn't issued at the time had to do with Getz's commercial success with bossa nova. Then again, he says a bunch of things about Brazilian music and bossa nova that indicate a lack of knowledge of the subject matter, so I'll take the whole essay with a grain of salt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom 1960 Posted November 19, 2012 Report Share Posted November 19, 2012 (edited) I had the opportunity to hear a few tracks off this album yesterday when WKCR on there Sunday Jazz Profile show featured the music of Stan Getz. I enjoyed the Stan Getz & Bill Evans tracks featured and will most likely pick this up at some point. Good stuff. Edited November 19, 2012 by Tom 1960 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjzee Posted November 19, 2012 Report Share Posted November 19, 2012 "Funkalerro"'s a bad motherfucker, but the rest of it didn't move me one way or the other. I recommend the live version of "Funkallero" done by Evans' trio with Getz as guest artist performed at Laren in '74. The CD is titled BUT BEAUTIFUL (Milestone MCD-9249-2) released under Evans' name. I wonder why this wasn't included in the Bill Evans Milestone box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted November 19, 2012 Report Share Posted November 19, 2012 Milestone did not own the material until later. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/But_Beautiful_%28Stan_Getz_%26_Bill_Evans_album%29 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted November 21, 2012 Report Share Posted November 21, 2012 Had a copy of the session at one point. Don't anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Tapscott Posted November 21, 2012 Report Share Posted November 21, 2012 "Funkalerro"'s a bad motherfucker, but the rest of it didn't move me one way or the other. I recommend the live version of "Funkallero" done by Evans' trio with Getz as guest artist performed at Laren in '74. The CD is titled BUT BEAUTIFUL (Milestone MCD-9249-2) released under Evans' name. The liner notes to this CD make it plain that there was some tension between Getz and Evans on this performance (Getz' fault mostly, it seems, no surprise there). It got to the point where Evans refused to comp behind Getz on one tune. So it's not hard to imagine that there were some major issues on the '64 studio session. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Bresnahan Posted November 21, 2012 Report Share Posted November 21, 2012 "Funkalerro"'s a bad motherfucker, but the rest of it didn't move me one way or the other. I recommend the live version of "Funkallero" done by Evans' trio with Getz as guest artist performed at Laren in '74. The CD is titled BUT BEAUTIFUL (Milestone MCD-9249-2) released under Evans' name. The liner notes to this CD make it plain that there was some tension between Getz and Evans on this performance (Getz' fault mostly, it seems, no surprise there). It got to the point where Evans refused to comp behind Getz on one tune. So it's not hard to imagine that there were some major issues on the '64 studio session. Careful, you're moving awfully close to saying something bad about Stan. We know where that got us last time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjzee Posted November 21, 2012 Report Share Posted November 21, 2012 Careful, you're moving awfully close to saying something bad about Stan. We know where that got us last time. :tup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
six string Posted November 22, 2012 Report Share Posted November 22, 2012 "Funkalerro"'s a bad motherfucker, but the rest of it didn't move me one way or the other. I recommend the live version of "Funkallero" done by Evans' trio with Getz as guest artist performed at Laren in '74. The CD is titled BUT BEAUTIFUL (Milestone MCD-9249-2) released under Evans' name. If you're going to hear those two together, this live set is the way to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted September 21, 2019 Report Share Posted September 21, 2019 I pulled my red cardboard version of the Complete Bill Evans on Verve yesterday and it has Gary Peacock and Paul Motian for this session credited! Anybody else noticed this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrdlu Posted September 22, 2019 Report Share Posted September 22, 2019 (edited) Ha ha. That's a good one. Thought Elvin was Paul Motian. Were the notes written by an office junior? At the end of the day, bottom line, when all is said and done (insert another overused cliché), I am very grateful to be able to hear these two sessions, and I don't think the music hurts Evans's and Getz's reputations in the slightest. Verve probably left it unreleased for the same reason they didn't issue "Nobody Else But Me" (which has the quartet with Gary Burton): they were pushing Getz playing Bossa Nova. I am annoyed when one man decides not to issue a track, and I'm glad that a different person got access to this material and the two Gil Evans quartet tracks, Cheryl and Ah Moore. I am still hoping that someone (Don Was?) will issue some Blue Note that Michael Cuscuna rejected, especially the large number of unissued Three Sounds performances (how bad could those possibly be?). Edited September 22, 2019 by Shrdlu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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