Stan Getz / Eddie Sauter - Focus (1962)

One more Stan Getz post, in a sublime orchestrated album of pieces by composer/arranger Eddie Sauter.  On the surface, this might seem like a Miles Davis/Gil Evans-style collaboration, but the circumstances and sound are quite different.  Focus was a more straightfoward commission from Getz, whereby Sauter wrote the music and scored it without a lead melody line, into which space Getz would improvise.  His sax is overdubbed on some tracks, played live against the orchestra on others - the session details are unclear on which was which.

Sauter decided to write largely without a rhythm section, so the opening Alice In Wonderland evocation I'm Late, I'm Late is the only piece with a substantive drum track, provided by Roy Haynes.  After this uptempo start, much of the music is lush and languid, like the gorgeous Her and I Remember When; only Pan and Night Rider quicken the pace again, using the strings to provide the rhythmic pulse.  Getz's playing is at its absolute best throughout, flitting over the orchestra like a butterfly, all the way to the beautiful midtempo closer A Summer Afternoon.

link

pw: sgtg

Previously posted at SGTG:

Conception

Getz/Gilberto

Sweet Rain