For Me, one of the most pleasant surprises to happen in jazz in the last ten years came with the release of a CD in 1996 of music that had been recorded twenty two years earlier. It was a rare "but beautiful," (and incidently, that's the name of the CD), live meeting between Bill Evans and Stan Getz.

"Pianist Bill Evans and tenor-saxophonist Stan Getz only recorded in the studio together on one occasion, making these previously unreleased concert performances (issued for the first time in 1996) quite valuable," writes Scott Yarrow in his review with AMG.

"Although released under the pianist's name, this CD is very much Stan Getz's show and his beautiful tone sounds quite exquisite on "But Beautiful," "Emily," "The Peacocks," and the swinging "You and the Night and the Music."

“There are four qualities essential to a great jazzman. They are taste, courage, individuality, and irreverence. These are the qualities I want to retain in my music.” - Stan Getz


"Although Getz played attractive compositions tastefully with harmonic and melodic sophistication, so too did many substantial musicians who never received much critical and popular acclaim. The primary reason for his greatness and his popularity lies elsewhere, in his tone. It is uniquely his. Big and pure and rich and definite, it possesses such an intrinsic appeal that master saxophonist and innovator John Coltrane proclaimed his envy of it — and Roost Records released a Getz album in the Fifties called, simply and accurately, The Sound." Benjamin Franklin V, Excerpted from: The Essential Stan Getz

"Let's face it. We [tenor saxophonists] would all play like him, if we could." —John Coltrane

The Bill Evans Webpages

From the Liner Notes, written by Helen Keane, in 1995. "I feel it's important that I explain why Bill is not playing on most of "Stan's Blues."

Since Bill and Stan hadn't worked together very often, they called a rehearsal on the day of the performance in Laren. They rehearsed for about three hours. The format for the evening was that the trio would perform for about 40 minutes, then Stan would join the group as Bill's special guest.

Stan Getz was a very unpredictable guy and sometimes he could be a very bad boy.

After the trio finished their set, Stan was announced. As he entered the stage, he called a tune they hadn't rehearsed. I was watching the performance on a television monitor in the audio truck and saw the angry expression on Bill's face as Stan began to play unrehearsed "Stan's Blues." Bill played a little on the melody chorus, then took his hands off the keyboard and didn't play for the rest of the tune. As soon as he got Eddie Gomez's eye, Bill shook his head, meaning "don't take a solo."

That explains why there's no piano on "Stan's Blues." Bill was a gentle person, but very strong. Although he always worked well with other musicians, obviously Stan's behavior really affected him.

Stan may have had a demon in him from time to time, but he also had the ability to be charming. At the later performance, Stan warmly wished Bill a happy birthday and played an impromptu "Happy Birthday." There is no way of proving it, but knowing Stan, I believe that this was his way of apologizing for what happened in Holland. I think Bill was very touched by Stan's birthday wish before an audience of seven thousand people.

Labels: Bay Area Jazz, Bill Evans, but beautiful, Jazz, San Francisco Jazz, Stan Getz