The Girl From Ipanema
I enjoy this CD so much. It's really mellow. I picture myself walking around little streets in Europe listening to this. I can't help but grin when I play it. It's a nice departure from a lot of stuff that's out these days.

This is it!
What can I say? Stan Getz at his best. If you like Jazz, you gotta have it!

Safe and timely Stan Getz Bossa compilation
Thanks to chillout and lounge artists such as Thievery Corporation, over the past few years Bossa Nova has once more come to the forefront of our musical consciousness. So today, almost three years after its release, this compilation of Bossa Nova works by American sax player Stan Getz comes in more than handy: it comes in timely, to reinforce Bossa as a groove that was more than a plain elevator music fad that lasted only for 3 years of our collective lives, in the early sixties.

Bossa is a downbeat, sexy statement to relax to, in a couch or while standing sipping through a coffee. It is a way of seeing the world without taking it all too seriously, it is -in a way- a happy way of seeing the world, which we need so direly in these turbulent times. And Stan Getz, driven by Bossa's creator, Jobim, and accompanied by geniuses of the calliber of Joao Gilberto, Astrud Gilberto, Charlie Byrd, Luis Bonfa, Gary Burton and many others, presents us here with a fairly comprehensive Verve compilation of some of Bossa's greatest moments, as lived (and conveyed) by Getz, for our enjoyment some 40 years after the fact, sounding just as fresh and upbeat.

Great one-disc sampling of the whole Bossa Nova fad...
The merger of cool American saxophone with sultry Brazilian folk sounds hit our shores in 1962, and was pretty much over by '65. While the craze was hot, it was everywhere. Now, 40 years later, it still pleases, especially because one never hears music like this on radio stations. Stan Getz was the USA's big champion of this style, and this CD takes selections from six of his vinyl LP's from the early '60's. Joining him are Antonio Carlos Jobim, composer, pianist and guitarist; singers Astrud and Joao Gilberto; vibraphonist Gary Burton and guitarist Jim Hall. All the biggest Bossa Nova hits are on here, in original versions. The mood is mostly mellow, but it's a happy hour overall. If you like jazz, and you don't have any of the original records sampled on this disc, don't be afraid to buy this. It is worth the price, by far.

A perfect summer jazz album
First impressions: The album is very "breathy" and sultry. They must have turned up the bass when they recorded it; even the tenor is more "breathy" than usual. Anyway, to simplify this, the bossa nova sound here has a sexy exuberance.

The liner notes are very thorough written by a guy named Neil Tesser from 'Jazziz Magazine' who is also a radio show host in Chicago. He includes a nice explanation as to how bossa nova came about and why it sounds so "laid back". (Basically a rebellion towards tango and bollero singers who were "projecting", their beautiful voices. Note how "projecting" is in quotation marks. Obviously a euphenism for shouting?)

What impressed me in the liner notes about Stan Getz is that he recorded five albums in a 13 month period whereas the bulk of these songs were culled.

The music contained herein is smooth, the vocals very casual, very summer. Lots of guitar, steamy vocals, Getz's breathy sax too. The recordings have a very high sound quality

The CD is 1 hour and 4 minutes long. It hs a retro cover with a 3/4 view looking down on Stan Getz playing his tenor sax in a white shirt, black pants, black shoes, while his sleeves are rolled up. Its both nerdy and charismatic at the same time.

I'm glad I own this. It's a safe buy from a grandmaster of bossa nova.

Tony