Lost Recordings Finds Getz Quartet and Astrid Gilberto Live at the Berlin Jazz Festival 1966

analog stereo recording in Berlin Philharmonie acoustics

This press release got me to drop the $92 (with shipping). This is a Getz Quartet featuring Gary Burton, Chuck Israels and Roy Haynes, plus Astrid—not the one that recorded Getz Au Go Go, but what a quartet! And recorded at the Berlin Philharmonie—a modern, fairly dry space that hopefully produced a vibrant, direct recording! It's limited to 3000 copies. The "lost" tapes sat untouched until they were found!

"The Lost Recordings" found the analogue master tapes of this extraordinary concert in the Berlin radio archives. How can one not be captivated by this performance, which delivers a previously unreleased version of some tracks from the legendary 1964 Verve album? From now on, these 19 unforgettable titles are added to our collection with, as always, an unequalled sound quality, thanks to our Phoenix Mastering® process and Kevin Gray's cuts.

When the concert started that 4 November 1966 at the famous Berliner Jazzfest, four musicians took the stage. Close-knit to the point of telepathy, they were about to give one of their last concerts. The mythical partnership of Stan Getz on saxophone and Gary Burton on the vibraphone was coming to an end, but were they even aware that this was one of their last acts? Accompanying them was an exceptional rhythm section with Chuck Israels on bass and the great Roy Haynes on drums.

With the first notes of “On Green Dolphin Street” the audience was won over by the rapport of empathy within the quartet. The programme was beautifully compiled to alternate flamboyant standards conducive to the most exuberant solos (“Blues Walk”), heady ballads where Getz demonstrated his splendid sound and lyrical singing (“The Shadow of Your Smile” and “Once Upon a Summertime”), and compositions by Gary Burton where the vibraphonist displayed his subtle harmonic universe (“The Singing Song” and “Edelweiss”).

Suddenly, a high-spirited version of “O Grande Amor”, the standard by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, sounded out to prefigure the distinctly bossa nova vibe of the second part of the concert: Astrud Gilberto was to take the stage. With the opening bars of “Samba de Uma Nota só” the flavours of Brazil were palpable. Gilberto’s voice, fragile yet mischievous against the background of the iridescent vibraphone and wrapped within the airy countermelody of the saxophone, recreated all the freshness and innocence of the legendary recording of 1964. As if they were performing together for the first time, Gilberto and Getz played a subtle game of seduction to create music that was sensual, light and melancholic. The colourful sequence of bossa nova standards – “Você E Eu” by Gilberto Gil, “Corcovado” and “The Girl from Ipanema” by Jobim – intermingled with numbers that were jazzier in both form and spirit – “Jive Hoot” by Bob Brookmeyer, “The Shadow of your Smile” and “It Might as Well Be Spring” – was simply irresistible.

With the final notes of “Jive Hoot”, Stan Getz smiled and bid farewell to the audience with a simple “Auf Wiedersehen”. The recording of this dream-like performance lay untouched for nearly sixty years, until we unearthed the original tapes in the archives of Berlin Radio. This album is the very first edition of this unforgettable live concert.