Stan Getz on "Yardbird Suite"
Stan Getz and Chet Baker in 1983 — 40 years later! |
There's been an endless amount of writing by critics on "Getz's melodicism" and that sort of jazz journalist-y stuff, so I'll stay off that point, except to point out that if there are major attributes to Getz's playing that make his solos stand out as exceptionally melodic—even in extremely up-tempo situations—these might be the following: clean, logical phrases that have a natural direction to them; melodic shapes that are mostly scalar or arpeggio-based, rather than excessively chromatic; and a sense of continual motific development. Getz did play many lines, but he also broke up these lines in solos with brief episodic motifs that he'd develop until they'd lead him in another direction.
This particular recording is noteworthy because Getz is playing trio as he solos without a pianist; Carson Smith (bass) and Larry Bunker (drums) are backing him, but Getz outlines the changes especially clearly in this solo. Here's the solo:
And take a listen:
Comments
Post a Comment