Getz at The Gate: The Stan Getz Quartet Live at the Village Gate, Nov. 26, 1961

The Stan Getz Quartet
Getz at The Gate: The Stan Getz Quartet Live at the Village Gate, Nov. 26, 1961
Verve Records

A revelation many are calling this release of two sets from a 1961 Greenwich Village engagement by Stan Getz at the famed New York Jazz Club. Earlier that year, Getz had returned from three years in Europe and recorded earlier that year his famed album, "Focus," which merged Eddie Sauter's compositions for strings and Getz's spontaneous improvisations. Upon returning to the United States, Getz contacted bassist Scott LaFaro who agreed to join Getz if he could put together the rhythm section and recruited Steve Kuhn, who had been with John Coltrane, on piano and drummer Pete LaRoca, who would be replaced by Roy Haynes.

In the booklet accompanying this release, Bob Blumenthal notes "It took a while for the quartet to gain popular traction, but it worked fairly steadily. (Again, hindsight is deceptive. While LaFaro made important recordings with Ornette Coleman and Bill Evans in this period, most of his performing time was spent with Getz.) Many of these gigs were on double bills opposite the man who had dethroned Getz in the music polls, John Coltrane." The group developed quickly, and Blumenthal observes they apparently were in exceptional form at the July 3 Newport Jazz Festival. LaFaro died in a car crash on July 6 and replaced by bassist John Neve.

Blumenthal's essay provides more of the details about Getz's group and some recordings before the present archival one. This release documents two sets from the fourth and final night of a triple-bill at the Village Gate that also included Chris Connor and Les McCann (those who have seen reproductions of New York City newspaper ads from the time will be familiar with these multiple billings that had several major acts at one time. I remember going to see Otis Rush at the Gate in 1978, and Hugh Masekela was also on the bill. The press release for this notes that these performances were "professionally recorded, possibly for eventual release, but was soon forgotten and the tape languished in the vaults for almost 58 years." We are indeed fortunate that the tape was apparently not in the Universal Music vaults that suffered fires several years ago as disclosed in recent New York Times accounts.

As Blumenthal observes, there is plenty of toughness and fire in much of Getz's playing in contrast to his image as the epitome of 'cool jazz." This is immediately evident in the bursts of notes in "It's Alright With Me," which might contrast with the more legato, feathering playing that some might think about Getz's music. But this is 1961, and the music of Coltrane and Rollins is at the fore. Haynes' fiery playing, including a short solo and trading fours as well as Kuhn's use of block chords here and elsewhere, make for fascinating listening. On Gigi Gryce's "Wildwood," with its nice relaxed tempo, Getz displays a bit more of a feathery tone, although his playing also has more toughness, and his tonal dynamics match his creativity here. His ballad playing is exquisite as on "When the Sun Comes Out" and "Stella By Starlight." He tears up Sonny Rollin's "Airegin," one of the numbers which have parts where Kuhn lays out, and it becomes almost a duet with Haynes, although Neves keeps a steady pulse. There also is a nice relaxed "Blues" and the brisk "It's You Or No One," with some sterling piano. The rhythm section is featured on "Impressions" that Getz introduces as "So What."

The two lengthiest tracks close out this double disk set. Monk's "52nd Street Theme" provides some lengthy and imaginative playing by the leader and has Haynes' longest solo on this recording. It is followed by an encore in which Getz is heard noodling on "The Breeze and I" and "How High the Moon," after which someone urges him to play the blues. This urging leads to a rendition of Lester Young's "Jumpin' With Symphony Sid," taken at a slower than usual tempo.  It capped an excellent evening from the Stan Getz Quartet, but this group disbanded by year's end. In 1962, Getz began his collaboration with guitarist Charlie Byrd, and in February, they recorded the hit album "Jazz Samba" which took his playing in another direction. The music on "Getz at the Gate" indicates a course that Getz might have made if he had not gone the Bossa Nova route. Based on the music on this invaluable historical document, it would have been as musically productive and satisfying in its own way.

I received a download to review from a publicist. This review appeared in the September-October 2019 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 386) although I made minor stylistic changes. Here is "Yesterday's Gardenias" from "Getz at the Gate."