Vintage Performances by Getz, Holiday and Davis

Countless jazz fans are familiar with the magic of Stan Getz: his abundant lyricism, his precise technique, his soothing-yet-never-saccharine sound.

But for newcomers looking for an introduction to the saxophonist, who died June 6, “Vintage Getz” is a timely and inviting starting place.

The two-hour video package from A*Vision Entertainment was shot during an ’83 concert at a Northern California winery and features pianist Jim McNeely, bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Victor Lewis.

Getz--whose “Getz/Gilberto” won a Grammy for best album of 1964--is in fine form on the video as he swings hard on such classics as Bud Powell’s “Tempus Fugit” and becomes gentle and warm on such ballads as “Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most.”

The production is one of two double-cassette packages put together for A*Vision by Fred Baker.

The other one--”Vintage Collection”--is a black-and-white set that was culled from three classic ‘50s CBS-TV telecasts. “Volume One: 1958-59” documents most of “The Sound of Jazz,” a star-filled show--with Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Thelonious Monk and Coleman Hawkins, among others--that actually aired in ’57.

It’s a magnificent program, packed with vitality and passion. Highlights range from Holiday’s “Fine and Mellow” to Monk’s “Blue Monk.”

Baker admitted he changed the order of the performances during the editing process, which is why he didn’t retain the title “The Sound of Jazz.” (The original and complete “The Sound of Jazz” is available from Vintage Jazz Classics and Stash Video.)

“Volume Two: 1960-61” pieces together two rarer programs: “Jazz From Studio 61,” a broadcast featuring Ahmad Jamal’s trio and Ben Webster’s sextet that aired in 1960, and “The Sound of Miles Davis,” a 1959 production featuring John Coltrane and the Gil Evans orchestra. The latter video is sparked by Coltrane’s impassioned improvisation on “So What” and by Davis’ trumpet lines weaving in and out of Evans’ orchestrations on “The Duke” and “New Rhumba” (which is incorrectly listed as “Orchestral Sketches No. 1 & No. 2”).

Both the Getz and “Vintage Collection” can also be purchased in two, single-cassette volumes.

Rim Shots: Billy Mitchell, John Bolivar, Ernie Andrews and others perform at the eighth Los Angeles Garlic Festival today and Sunday at the Federal Building on Wilshire Boulevard in Westwood. A portion of the proceeds benefit the American Red Cross’ Disaster Relief Services and the Salvation Army’s “Project Westwood” for the homeless.