Stan Getz – Captain Marvel (Pure Pleasure)

One notable aspect of Stan Getzs' 1972 masterpiece is the album's consistently organic sound. The band accompanying Getz on these recordings for Columbia includes Chick Corea, electric bassist Stanley Clarke (who also plays in Corea's band Return To Forever), drummer Tony Williams, and Brazilian percussion master Airto. With the exception of Clarke, all had played with Miles Davis in what were then experimental electric bands. Corea's style on "Return To Forever" was just leaving its base of fusion sound, Wiliams was playing with John McLaughlin, and Larry Young had just peaked with "Lifetime" during his time with Miles Davis.

But that should not distract from the fact that we are dealing here with an album by Stan Getz. His outstanding playing on tenor saxophone shows this. Lively and fluid, he plays to the difficult variations Corea intones in his blend of Latin carnival in "La Fiesta" and skillfully executes the change of form in the key changes in "Five Hundred Miles High." The foundation of the music of "Return to Forever" came from Stan Getzs' extended complex harmonies and consistent dedication to musical improvisation. Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life" forms the space where Stan Getz introduces the band to dynamics, overall sound, and ambient atmosphere - and he gets Clarke to bow-stroke his bass. These musicians combine the restlessness of electric jazz with the firm principles, carried by Getz, that led modern jazz to its greatness. Excitement and mutual respect flow from the speakers in every recording. This is especially true on the Latin-style "Captain Marvel," the finest recording Getz made in the 1970s.

Stan Getz (ts); Chick Corea (el-p); Stanley Clarke (b); Tony Williams (dr); Airto Moreira (perc)