Getz & Evans

I avoided this recording because of all that's been written about the session being a failure, a misfire and miscalculation, an assembly of musicians who simply never could get it together. Au contraire! What I'm hearing is engaging music, inspired playing on all hands, a fascinating conversation among marvelous musicians who haven't spoken the same dialect long enough for it to become predictable, patterned, bland.

The session reminds me a bit of the Coltrane-Ellington recording, an iconic meeting on which Duke, for reasons known only to himself, barely offers a chord or two during Elvin Jones' playing. As a pianist, I can testify to the mutual unease and "feeling out" that accompanies the beginning of every job with a strange, new drummer. Bill seems to know that with Elvin on hand, this is not to be a "business-as-usual" Bill Evans' session, and to his credit he locates his place within the rhythmic universe of Elvin. (Another factor is Richard Davis, a gifted player but less secure and reassuring as a "walker" than Ron Carter, with whom he shares duties.)

This is an extroverted, "physical" session, and Getz is relishing every moment. Listen to "My Heart Stood Still" (master take). He's a giddy kid, pulling off wildly exhuberant melodic intervals and phrasings I've never heard from him before (let alone any other tenor player), playing with freeness, joy and abandon. Now listen to what occurs when it's Bill's turn. He lets the bass walk companionless, leaving us to wonder if he's ever going to show up or is about to pull an Ellington and disappear.

Instead, whether to avoid the bait he's been given by Getz or to avoid the same bait that Getz bit on, Bill comes in reluctantly and gradually, employing the minimalism and playfulness of a John Lewis while deliberately moving the music in the opposite direction of Elvin, Getz and company. In effect, what began as an adventure out of the Art Blakey Jazz Messengers' playbook ends up on a more pedestrian but no less productive path. Without using his left hand during his solo, Bill steers the music toward the polyphonic, genteel world of the Modern Jazz Quartet!

I'd say there's plenty of potent chemistry in evidence on this rare session, which is a refreshing change from Bill's usual trios of this period.

I've been a fan of both Bill Evans and Stan Getz since my earliest exposure to jazz. Just about anything from either one of these all time greats earns high ratings from critic and fan alike based, if nothing else, on the body of work each artist created during their careers. Unfortunately this album is the exception to the rule...sometimes the whole is LESS than the sum of the parts!

I own this recording as an import pressing of the original Verve LP which was cut in 1963, not 1964 as indicated in the catalog. Further, it wasn't released until 1973 in MONO (which given the year of recording indicates Verve didn't think too highly of it at the time). Besides uninspired performances the sound quality leaves much to be desired. While Elvin Jones ranks highly in the jazz canon of percussionists I don't believe he and Evans had the great rapport in evidence when Evans teamed with Paul Motian or Larry Bunker.

This is hardly an "essential recording" from either artist and I'm somewhat surprised at Amazon.com's editors listing it as so. From Evan's corner I'd pick "Trio 64" as MUCH more worthy of an "essential recording" from that time period. And if you want to hear Stan Getz at his pre bossa nova height in the piano trio format check out the Verve CD "Stan Getz meets Oscar Peterson."

I wish I wasn't echoing the other reviewers, but unfortunately, I tend to agree with them. I bought this CD with such high expectations, and the album was frankly a disappointment. If it had been any other artists, I would probably give it a higher rating, but Stan Getz & Bill Evans just aren't any other artist.

It says something that the artist that stands out most significantly on this album is Elvin Jones, who injects as much energy into the sessions as it is possible to give without overwhelming the other musicians.

This is not to say that the CD doesn't have its shining moments. I would point to "Night & Day" and "My Heart Stood Still" (not the alternate takes), which possess the energy that the other tracks seem to lack.

Getz & Evans only did this one album together, so it is hard to say if a second effort would have resulted in "Getz vs. Evans II." We will never know. It would have been nice to see a better result than what we have.