Steamer
Tenor Stan Getz is cited as a symbol of jazz's "cool" school and he indeed possessed a soft, welcoming, warm tone that few others rivaled. Yet, this description only scratches the surface. His sound was light but also rich and full-bodied. His execution was relaxed (in that he never sounded strained, even at high speeds) but never was he dispassionate. This 1956 Hollywood session finds him spurred on but not overly stretched by a nifty rhythm section of Lou Levy, Leroy Vinnegar, and Stan Levey. Getz, as usual, does wonders with the ballads, but the true revelations are the buoyant readings of "There Will Never Be Another You" and "How About You" (presented here in two takes), where his fertile, flowing ideas remind you that "smooth" wasn't always a dirty word.--Marc Greilsamer