But Beautiful

Album Review

Aside from a series of studio sessions a decade earlier for Verve, this CD represents the only other meeting featuring Stan Getz with pianist Bill Evans. Originally issued by the notorious bootleg label Jazz Door with six selections from a Laren, Holland concert in 1974, Milestone acquired the masters for a legitimate release and added four bonus tunes from a concert in Antwerp, Belgium a week later. Getz meshes almost perfectly with Evans' trio (with bassist Eddie Gómez and drummer Marty Morell), with only one sore spot: Getz ignored the pianist's request not to play the under-rehearsed "Stan's Blues," which provoked Evans into quickly dropping out and signaling his sidemen to avoid solos of their own. But the remaining tracks are all invigorating, particularly Evans' brisk "Funkallero" and the lush take of Jimmy Rowles' ballad "The Peacocks." It seems a shame that there were not additional opportunities for Getz and Evans to work together on other occasions, but it is possible that their strong personalities would have clashed. Highly recommended!