Stan Getz / Luiz Bonfa Jazz Samba Encore!

While in 1963 Beat and Rock'n'Roll ruled the charts and airwaves at full throttle, there still was a scene for more gentle and lightweight music out there to get you into a joyful mood right when you put the vinyl onto your turntable. Swinging jazz and latin dance music of the popular kind combined as a force of light if you want to say so. And grand master Stan Getz, a very prolific and renowned saxophone player since the late 1940s joined in with Luiz Bonfá for a record. The latter one was a legend in Brazil as a jazz guitarist and composer. And both as a musical unit produced one of the greatest ever paths crossing record in the field of merely acoustic latin pop. A few well placed vocal lines flanked by Mr. Getz' utterly sensual saxophone playing and restrained yet very intense guitar lines on a groundwork of poly rhythmical grooves make you want to get up and dance. The majority of the tunes on this album is all instrumental and both leaders of the project shine here as the brightest stars of the scene. If you close your eyes you will find yourself in some open and sun flushed Brazilian venue where waiters with white jackets serve drinks and a well dressed ladies with a certain mysterious charisma try to catch your eye while you zip on your bourbon and let your mind float away to the slightly melancholic but still vital melodies. A gentle record for gentle hours and a legend on it's own. Still as fresh and exciting as it has been in 1963 and highly sought after by fans of jazzy latin sounds from those days. You wait for Astrud Gilberto to set in each second and sing about the girl of Epanema, no joke. Sound and performance are as expected. Clear and always beneficial to the song itself but adorned with the most passionate solos you could find on such a record.