Stan Getz - DYNASTY (1971)Label Verve - 1971 | 2 Discs | Time: 45:14 & 48:04 | MP3 192 kbps | 128 MB
Genre : Jazz - Post-Bop When Stan Getz visited Paris to witness the French Open tennis matches, he would hang out at the Blue Note nightclub to hear how the locals did it, being told their jazz scene was not up to snuff. In London, he would pick up the European band he heard in Paris for an engagement at Ronnie Scott's. Because of his stature, Getz was able to grab the very best musicians the continent could provide, in this case the brilliant Belgian guitarist René Thomas, organist Eddy Louiss from Martinique, and French classical and jazz drummer Bernard Lubat. Bringing no charts of his own, Getz was happy to play the music of his bandmates, choosing virtually no standards, and fitting in beautifully with nary a hint of brandishing his famed ego to the proceedings. This original two-fer LP has been reissued on a double CD, a whopping 88 minutes of highlights over a three day span during an unprecedented three week engagement from this club date at the legendary venue owned the British fellow tenor saxophonist Scott. Perhaps there are some recordings with this combo featuring Scott sitting in with Getz, but that will have to wait for another recording. This one is excellently documented by Beatles producer George Martin, as every instrument is cleanly articulated and heard in pure, balanced form. Getz sounds comfortable and relaxed from the outset on one of five compositions brought by Louiss on "Dum! Dum," a light and breezy but mysterious tune with an implied bossa nova beat, while the title track is a blues shuffle road song, slightly funky, and a good test in regards to the dynamism of the quartet. Louiss, as gifted a jazz organist as any, digs in with splendid two fisted chords on his popping, fairly bluesy "Song for Martine," a tune just for fun that slips back into bossa. While Thomas is most outstanding on his incredible solos, he has room to contribute his "Ballad for Leo," not at all a ballad as the stabbing tones of the organist fire up everybody in a 6/8 framework.