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Early on into the Stan Getz Quartet tour of Europe in November 1966 tensions broke out between the saxophonist and his former mistress, the vocalist Astrud Gilberto, who had risen to rapid success after the surprise hit "The Girl From Ipanema" three years previously. Promoters bargaining on a sold-out double header were set into a panic when Gilberto demanded her own accompanists rather than Getz' quartet. Perhaps something of the backstage heat transferred itself to this slice of the tour recorded in Paris.
This album has has always demanded a struggle between the listener and a very askew recording balance, only recently revealed to have been caused a faulty microphone, but strike through the aural distractions and you'll find Getz and the band on top form.
The youthful Gary Burton was an acknowledged stimulus to Getz' creativity and both his comping behind the tenor and shimmering solo work are the stuff of genius; listen for the incredible four-mallet solo treatment of "Edelweiss", sounding for all the world as is Bill Evans is at the vibraphone.
Unfortunately it is bassist Steve Swallow who suffers most at the inefficient hands of the Parisian engineers, never quite sounding like he is sharing the same stage as his cohorts. In his stead drummer Roy Haynes seems to up the ante and at times this session appears more of a drum and tenor duel than a quartet effort.
Getz of course had the necessary muscle to spar with Haynes, just as he had the same delicacy to deliver a peerless ballad reading over Burton's vibes, as he does here on "When The World Was Young". "Green Dolphin Street" has a sometimes abstracted ferocity, whilst the closer, "Night Rider" (a.k.a. "Out Of Focus") is a four way reduction of one of the movements of Eddie Sauter and Getz' 1961 collaboration "Focus" (on every issue of this concert it has been mislabelled "The Knight Rides" and incorrectly credited to Frank Loesser). Haynes cuts loose with a solo affirming Getz' declaration that he favoured the drummer over any other.
One puzzle remains: it appears that the entire concert was recorded and on some previous vinyl issues "O Grande Amor" has appeared. Not so here, where it is replaced by a version of "Stan's Blues". Quite why Universal haven't undertaken a more extensive restoration of this night is open to question, but what is here is welcome enough, warts 'n all.
Those wishing to hear an earlier incarnation of this line-up should seek out "Nobody Else But Me" (Verve), a studio outing from 1964 which didn't see the light of day for thirty years. The same line-up also appear on "Getz-A-Gogo", a live and studio mix with Astrud Gilberto riding the commercial bossa boom.
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