STAN GETZ-TENOR SAX OSCAR PETERSON-PIANO HERB ELLIS-GUITAR RAY BROWN-BASS

Guitarist Charlie Byrd was invited to travel and play in Brazil during a cultural goodwill tour sponsored by the Kennedy administration in 1961. He was completely enamoured by the music, and when he returned, he headed straight for the recording studio to make the now classic Jazz Samba. Collaborating with Stan Getz on tenor sax and backed by a band that included Gene Byrd (bass, guitar), Keter Betts (bass), and Buddy Deppenschmidt and Bill Reichenbach (drums), Byrd forged a new and brilliant sound. American record companies were to churn out hundreds of watered bossa-pop albums that have since given the style its lounge-addled image, but this album stands as a tribute to the vitality and adaptability of jazz. —Louis Gibson

2-LP set) Stan Meets Chet is classic Verve from 1958, and its title foretells the musical lineup: Stan Getz on tenor sax and Chet Baker on trumpet. The music is straightahead West Coast bop. Stan Meets Chet has the earmarks of early stereo, with Getz locked in the right channel and Baker in the left. Only 2500 numbered limited edition copies worldwide.

2-LP set) Stan Meets Chet is classic Verve from 1958, and its title foretells the musical lineup: Stan Getz on tenor sax and Chet Baker on trumpet. The music is straightahead West Coast bop. Stan Meets Chet has the earmarks of early stereo, with Getz locked in the right channel and Baker in the left. Only 2500 numbered limited edition copies worldwide.

Originally released in March 1964, this collaboration between saxophonist Stan Getz and guitarist João Gilberto came at seemingly the end of the bossa nova craze Getz himself had sparked in 1962 with Jazz Samba, his release with American guitarist Charlie Byrd. Jazz Samba remains the only jazz album to reach number one in the pop charts. In fact, the story goes that Getz had to push for the release of Getz/Gilberto since the company did not want to compete with its own hit; it was a good thing he did. Getz/Gilberto, which featured composer Antonio Carlos Jobim on piano, not only yielded the hit "Girl from Ipanema" (sung by Astrud Gilberto, the guitarist's wife, who had no professional experience) but also "Corcovado" ("Quiet Night")—an instant standard, and the definitive version of "Desafinado." Getz/Gilberto spent 96 weeks in the charts and won four Grammys. It remains one of those rare cases in popular music where commercial success matches artistic merit. Bossa nova's "cool" aesthetic—with its understated rhythms, rich harmonies, and slightly detached delivery—had been influenced, in part, by cool jazz. Gilberto in particular was a Stan Getz fan. Getz, with his lyricism, the bittersweet longing in his sound, and his restrained but strong swing, was the perfect fit. His lines, at once decisive and evanescent, focus the rest of the group's performance without overpowering. A classic. —Fernando Gonzalez

2009 seven CD set from Jazz great Stan Getz along with Kenny Barron. Just a few months before his death, Getz (1927-1991) decided to make a live album with the pianist Kenny Barron. Getz and Barron, who had just spent five years performing with bassist Rufus Reid and drummer Victor Lewis in what was quite possibly the best quartet of Getz's career, formed a sort of band within a band, working four nights in front of a live audience (and a recording crew) at the Caf‚ Montmartre in Copenhagen. Shortly after Getz's death, 14 of these tracks were issued on a two-CD release entitled People Time. Now, Universal Music France issues the complete recordings: 48 performances on seven discs that amount to as moving a last will and testament as have ever heard by a major musician. Universal.

2009 seven CD set from Jazz great Stan Getz along with Kenny Barron. Just a few months before his death, Getz (1927-1991) decided to make a live album with the pianist Kenny Barron. Getz and Barron, who had just spent five years performing with bassist Rufus Reid and drummer Victor Lewis in what was quite possibly the best quartet of Getz's career, formed a sort of band within a band, working four nights in front of a live audience (and a recording crew) at the Caf‚ Montmartre in Copenhagen. Shortly after Getz's death, 14 of these tracks were issued on a two-CD release entitled People Time. Now, Universal Music France issues the complete recordings: 48 performances on seven discs that amount to as moving a last will and testament as have ever heard by a major musician. Universal.