Focus (Stan Getz album)

Occupation

• Tenor Saxophone: Stan Getz
• Bass: John Neves
• Violin: Alan Martin, Gerald tarack, Norman Carr
• Viola; Jacob Glick
• Cello: Bruce Rogers
• Drums: Roy Haynes ( 1)
• Arrangement, composition: Eddie Sauter
• Management: Hershy Kay

Focus is a jazz album by Stan Getz and a string ensemble, led by Hershy Kay, with compositions and arrangements by Eddie Sauter, taken on 14 and 28 July and in September 1961 and released on Verve Records.

The album

The worship of saxophonist Stan Getz for the music of the composer and arranger Eddie Sauter goes back to the 1940s; in 1945 played the young Getz Sauter titles like "Clarinet a la King", " Superman " and " Moonlight in the Ganges ", which he had written Goodman band for Benny. 1955 Getz worked together briefly in the context of a Konzertgigs with the Sauter - Finegan Orchestra; in a sample he had played Sauter arrangements and was impressed by his music. In the late 1950s Stan Getz went to Copenhagen, Sauter worked in Baden- Baden with the Southwest Radio Orchestra. [ 1 Lake ]

After the return of the two in the United States Getz Eddie Sauter commissioned as an arranger and composer; he should write a major work for him. For the orchestral work Focus Getz was surrounded as the only soloist in a concerto grosso - frame, but ultimately with some unusual differences: the scores of the soloist Getz were not written out in full, while only the under painting string arrangements had been created as complete compositions of Sauter. Sauter's conception came from the subtle rhythmic structure of a classical string quartet rather than from the conventional basis of a swinging jazz rhythm section, but tried hard to " syrupy " of the string arrangements of the then customary Easy Listening delineate. [ Lake 2]

"I hated the idea of the flat background music, which in itself did not matter. I knew that I so did not want to make it ... I wanted this music had soul; she should wear an element of truth in it, not just as an art piece. So I wanted to write pieces which bore a continuity of idea and form and thus a thematic strength in itself. "

The result of this conception had such a thematic strength that Stan Getz first had the impression that he would not fit because stylistically.

" Eddie asked if I would come over after he had written the first draft. I saw what he had written down and could not think of anything including what he wanted. As soon as I started playing but I knew ... in the beautiful score was something the vehicle for that was exactly what I was looking, new sounds, new freedom and easily adapted to fit to me. "

Stan Getz himself brought to the recording sessions two jazz musicians, the ( relatively unknown ) bassist John Neves and drummer Roy Haynes, who is but to listen only to the title " I'm Late, I'm Late ". The management of the string ensembles with a total of seventeen strings, harp and percussion had the cellist Hershy Kay, an old friend of Sauter. With him Kay had previously orchestrated the music of Richard Rodgers for The Valiant Years TV Series. Hershy Kay chose as the core of the ensemble, the Beaux -Arts String Quartet, with violinist Gerald tarack and Allan Martin, Jacob Glick (viola) and Bruce Rogers ( Cello ). These had previously been involved in a Third Stream project with John Lewis, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Jimmy Giuffre and Gunther Schuller ( Third Stream Music).

Ultimately, the success ( or failure ) of the Focus project of the ability Stan Getz'ab to immerse itself in this created by Eddie Sauter formal language; he had his compositions "written on the body" him, at the same time it - left enough room for improvisation - within and outside of the textures. Most of these compositions had an impressionistic, sketchy character, almost like pictures, portraits of landscapes; Getz's phrase should be " precise formulation help " these images into one. [ Lake 5]

So had about " Her" the tender character of a portrait; it was the homage of the saxophonist to his mother, who died during the recording sessions. " I'm Late, I'm Late " ( influenced by Lewis Carroll's " White Rabbit " ), in turn, was assembled from two alternate takes to get a long take. The open character of Sauter's material was Getz, the ability to vary his answers despite repetition of the orchestral parts.

The opening of " I'm Late, I'm Late " is almost identical with the beginning of Béla Bartók's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta.

The restless "Night Rider" opens with Getz ' hunted rubato sounds that run counter to the asymmetric string arrangement. Its episodic structure already takes the second Getz / Sauter cooperation anticipate the resulting soundtrack album in August 1965 Mickey One to the film by Arthur Penn.

Excerpts from the recording session were shown in the Edie Adams Show on ABC on September 26, 1963. The first live performance of the Focus album took place on 18 October 1963 in the Hunter College Assembly Hall in New York; in the first part of the concert played Stan Getz and his quartet, including with Jimmy Raney. In the second part of the string ensemble played under the direction of Eddie Sauter.

Title

• Stan Getz - Focus ( V 68412, liner notes by Dom Cerulli )

All compositions are by Eddie Sauter.

• The re- release of the album in CD form in 1997 contains two additional tracks:

Album Review

Richard Cook and Brian Morton rated the album in the Penguin Guide to Jazz with the highest rating of four stars and count it among the highlights of the record work of the saxophonist; it was probably been his " greatest hour ". No one would have ever arranged so good for Getz as Sauter, whose This is not a " type jazz " and Sauter also did not have the mysterious power of Gil Evans " radiant and shimmering score enchant as before. "; also it did not have the character of a suite or a concert, but rather a series of episodes, over which hover the tenor of Getz and gliding through. A highlight is " Her", dedicated to his mother's Getz. [ Morton / Cook 1]

Brian Priestley raises Focus Getz in his article in Jazz Rough Guide from the extensive Getz discography out and calls it a uniquely successful meeting Getz ' with a string ensemble that plays original material of Sauter. [ Jazz Rough Guide 1] Digby Fairweather wrote in the same plant to Sauter: "Focus belonging to albums that would have been created with the most dynamic use of strings in conjunction with the Jazz. " [ Jazz Rough Guide 2]

Even Stephen Cook in the All Music Guide Focus is one of the best albums Getz ' and draws it out with the second highest rating; In contrast to the shortly thereafter incurred Bossa Nova recordings Getz show here his expansive talents as a saxophonist; he never lacked ideas here or momentum, like a mutton hopscotch and he kläffe in " I'm Late, I'm Late "; awesome he responds to the string shadow in the great ballad " I Remember When ". This was probably Getz's been most challenging recording session and probably his grandest moment. Focus wander through the empty countryside outside bop jazz with a fantastic and memorable effect.

The music magazine Jazzwise recorded the album in the list The 100 Jazz Albums That Shook the World; Keith Shadwick wrote:

Swell

• Ian Carr, Digby Fairweather, Brian Priestley: Rough Guide to Jazz. the ultimate guide to jazz; 1800 bands and artists from its inception until today. 2nd edition. Metzler, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-476-01892- X.
• Richard Cook, Brian Morton: The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD. 6th edition. ISBN 0-14-051521-6.
• Steve Lake, liner notes in 1978.