The Quartet’s Personnel
Stan Getz, tenor sax; Jimmy Raney, guitar; Johnny Neves, bass; Ben Riley, drums
Dave recalls...
Here’s a pickup quartet to confound the most knowledgeable listener. Getz was in the midst of his financially successful Bossa Nova phase, and before my wife and I got to the club, I kept apologizing for what I assumed would be a very pleasant listening experience but not one with any real creative bite.
But when the lights went down, bam, they played Bird tunes and Raney originals all night long. The intensity of the collective effort placed on straight-ahead, hard-swinging originals left us completely perplexed. Why would Getz not promote what he was currently emphasizing?
Anyway, besides being a complete surprise, the evening was beautiful. My wife doesn’t like jazz that pussyfoots around, and in no way did the Getz quartet do that.