CD-Charts Position 1
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Getz/Gilberto Vol.1: Remastered

CD-Charts > Music > Saxophone
by: Stan Getz, Joao Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim

Release Date May 25, 1999
Bossa Nova was and is not to everybody's taste. Many jazz aficianados can't stand Astrud Gilberto's singing either. The thing with this session in particular, however, is Stan Getz's playing. There is only one word for it - divine! Which is why I suspect there are so many accolades for this CD. The brevity and melodiousness of his ideas is quite exceptional, not so on many other examples of his work before or after.

I love jazz and I like this, but I can't say I can listen to Bossa Nova all the time. Stan Getz on this CD, however, I don't think I'll tire of...

CD-Charts Position 2
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Time Out

CD-Charts > Music > Saxophone
by: Dave Brubeck Quartet

Release Date April 07, 1997
Below is the review I recently posted on Amazon.com for the Dave Brubeck Take Five SACD. I really felt I should post the reveiw on Amazon.co.uk also, as there appear to be reviews which relate only to the CD release - same story with US Amazon. Surely there must be others out there that could stand up for this superb SACD album??!!

Although I'm not what I consider to be a great fan of jazz, I have enjoyed Dave Brubeck's music for quite some time. For the last two and a half years or so, I have bought almost only high resolution music (DVD-A or SACD), and was determined to buy this disc soon. For a short while, several years ago, I owned the standard CD version of this album - until I donated it to my father-in-law. For anyone reading ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
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Bossa Nova - Jazz Masters 53

CD-Charts > Music > Saxophone
by: Stan Getz

Release Date April 08, 1996
The best Stan Getz album money can buy. Relaxing soothing sounds to wind down to. Jazz Masters have excelled themselves with this selection.

CD-Charts Position 4
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Jazz Samba: Remastered

CD-Charts > Music > Saxophone
by: Stan Getz

Release Date May 25, 1999
Jazz Samba is the first, but now possibly least famous, of the works by the famous samba populist and saxophonist, Stan Getz. Here he collaborates with the guitarist Charlie Byrd to produce, in my opinion, his finest Samba album.

Unlike the later Getz/Gilberto, Getz/Byrd has no vocal content and relies on swinging samba melodies and dexterous interplay between these masters of jazz sax and guitar. In tempo, it ranges from the boisterous E Luxo So, through the never-bettered Desafinado to the melancholic and beautiful Samba Triste.

Getz's samba does not engage the listener like other jazz forms. Its Brazilian rhythms fade naturally into the background, making it ideal for sophisticated party music. Given the right conditions however (a sultry ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 5
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The Best of Gerry Mulligan With Chet Baker

CD-Charts > Music > Saxophone
by: Gerry Mulligan

Release Date March 18, 1991
When I first heard these tracks back in the fifties they were too modern, too West Coast, beyond my understanding and yet now they seem like old friends. Gerry Mulligan was Pacific Jazz's first artist and thank goodness they were there to record this lot. The group only lasted eleven months during which time they recorded all but one of the tracks on this CD. The odd one "Festive Minor" was recorded five years later at a reunion and shows Baker a little more strident than previously.

All the old Mulligan favorites are on the CD and demonstrate the empathy that he and Baker had at the time. It is music of the fifties but worth reinvestigating in the 2000s.

CD-Charts Position 6
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Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section

CD-Charts > Music > Saxophone
by: Art Pepper

Release Date November 10, 2006
This was the first Art Pepper record I ever bought, and to my ears it remains the best. Whether the legend surrounding the circumstances in which this recording was made is completely true I dont know, but if Art was in poor shape, and the session was not well prepared, there is no evidence here to suggest that there was anything amiss. Art Pepper was not my favourite alto player but this record helped in no small way by the Miles Davis rhythm section demands to be in the very top rank of jazz recordings

CD-Charts Position 7
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Getz/Gilberto No. 2

CD-Charts > Music > Saxophone
by: Stan Getz João Gilberto

Release Date November 09, 1993
This was the first Art Pepper record I ever bought, and to my ears it remains the best. Whether the legend surrounding the circumstances in which this recording was made is completely true I dont know, but if Art was in poor shape, and the session was not well prepared, there is no evidence here to suggest that there was anything amiss. Art Pepper was not my favourite alto player but this record helped in no small way by the Miles Davis rhythm section demands to be in the very top rank of jazz recordings

CD-Charts Position 8
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Stan Getz And The Oscar Peterson Trio

CD-Charts > Music > Saxophone
by: Stan Getz, Oscar Peterson

Release Date April 25, 1986
It's hard to think of anyone who has a tone quite like Stan Getz: breathy yet rich, cool yet passionate, he was unique. Famous for his wonderful bossa nova recordings, he also made some great music with other jazz masters. This album with the Oscar Peterson Trio is particularly fine. Getz's warm, lyrical tone caresses a collection of great tunes with admirable collaboration from one of the finest trios of all time. The lack of a drummer allows an intimate, relaxed feeling to the proceedings, and the results are seriously enjoyable. Highlights include a swinging "Pennies From Heaven" and beautiful ballad work on "Detour Ahead" and "I'm Glad There Is You". All Getz fans and jazz lovers should investigate this CD without delay.

CD-Charts Position 9
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Gerry Mulligan & Paul Desmond

CD-Charts > Music > Saxophone
by: Gerry Mulligan, Paul Desmond

Release Date October 05, 2000
For me the main attraction of the Brubeck Quartet was Paul Desmond. I bought the Mulligan/Desmond disc to get free postage! It is without doubt the luckiest buy I have made in years. I love Mulligan anyway, but Desmond has so much to say on this. Why didn't he do more? Buy it and play it, all sixty eight minutes of it, over and over.

CD-Charts Position 10
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The Bridges of Madison County

CD-Charts > Music > Saxophone
by: Original Soundtrack

Release Date September 18, 1995
Part of the film's success (see my separate film review),is this soundtrack. Featuring Dinah Washington, it is perfectly in keeping with the film, complimenting the story and brilliant acting, without ever dominating as so many soundtracks do. If you've seen the film and loved it, then buy this CD - it will conjure up the scenes in your mind's eye and take you back to Francesca's farm in Iowa. Perfect...