Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Stan Getz: Apasionado

386

Stan Getz: Apasionado

By

Sign in to view read count
Stan Getz: Apasionado
Tenor saxophonist Stan Getz's neo-big band album Apasionado has been consigned to minor league status since its original release in 1990. It does, indeed, look unpromising: recorded in fall 1989, when Getz was undergoing treatment for the cancer which would kill him less than two years later; with a pair of synthesizers replicating a string section; and with the commercially astute but MOR focused Herb Alpert producing.



But 20 years on and rereleased, Apasionado rises way above expectations. Getz is in soaring form, commanding attention so completely that the ersatz strings, and Alpert's slight arrangements, become irrelevant, barely emerging from the distant background where they belong. Apasionado, despite the received wisdom, is actually a very fine Getz album.



The album's structure was modeled, in large part, on Getz's masterpiece Focus (Verve, 1961), on which the saxophonist improvised, with practically no rehearsal and without prewritten melodies, over a suite played by a string orchestra arranged by Eddie Sauter. While Sauter's classically influenced writing on Focus has enough depth to stand up on its own, and Alpert's on Apasionado has a schlocky, fusionesque flavor, both albums present Getz in unrehearsed, stream of consciousness flow, creating the "themes" and their extended improvisations entirely in the moment. On Apasionado, only "Waltz For Stan," synth player and orchestrator Eddie del Barrio's "Coba" and synth player Mike Lang's "Lonely Lady" have pre-composed melodies. A couple of tracks last over eight minutes, the average length is over six, and Getz is on-microphone almost continuously, his longer solos complemented by shorter, more occasional ones from pianist Kenny Barron.



The Apasionado sessions, over three consecutive days in September 1989, didn't start well. Finding some errors on his score, Getz roundly cursed del Barrio, who had made the notations. Del Barrio responded in kind and both men stormed out of the studio. Only Alpert's practiced diplomacy saved the day. In summer 1990, Getz toured Apasionado with a smaller band including del Barrio and Barron, and with drummer Terri Lyne Carrington and electric bassist Alex Blake replacing the album's Jeff Porcaro and Jimmy Johnson (see the YouTube clip below). The album's seven-piece horn section was too expensive to take on the road.



Now reissued in Verve's no-frills but excellent Originals series—which put out the sublime five-disc box set Stan Getz: The Bossa Nova Albums in fall 2008—Apasionado is a blast of prime, late period Getz and it deserves to come out of the shadows.

Track Listing

Apasionado; Coba; Waltz For Stan; Espanola; Madrugada; Amorous Cat; Midnight Ride; Lonely Lady.

Personnel

Stan Getz
saxophone, tenor

Stan Getz: tenor saxophone; Eddie del Barrio: synthesizers; Mike Lang: electric pianos, synthesizers; Kenny Baron: acoustic piano; Paulinho da Costa: percussion; Jimmy Johnson: electric bass; Oscar Castro Neves: electric guitar; Michael Landau: electric guitar (4); Jeff Porcaro: drums; George Bohanon: trombone; Reginald Young: trombone; Noland Smith Jr.: trumpet; Rick Baptist: trumpet; Oscar Brashear: trumpet: William Green: saxophone; Tom Johnson: tuba.

Album information

Title: Apasionado | Year Released: 2009 | Record Label: Verve Music Group

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Love Is Passing Thru
Roberto Magris
Candid
Sunny Five
Inside Colours Live
Julie Sassoon

Popular

Eagle's Point
Chris Potter
Light Streams
John Donegan - The Irish Sextet

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.