Stan Getz, Chet Baker Pair for Classic Session

Getz and Byrd were briefly but inextricably linked in the early ‘60s by the arrival of the bossa nova. Both--and Getz, in particular--were attracted to a wide variety of other styles, but their collaboration on the 1962 album “Jazz Samba” was, for the broader pop music audience, at least, a career-defining outing.

Getz was reportedly happy to move on to other music, but Byrd has retained a strong connection with Brazil. So it’s interesting to observe the differences produced by the dramatically creative paths they chose to take.

The Getz album was recorded live in Norway in February 1983. Both Getz and Baker would be dead within a decade--the tenor saxophonist in 1991 of cancer, the trumpeter in 1988 after he either fell, or was pushed, from a second-story window in Amsterdam. At this point, each was in fine form, playing with the utter individuality that characterized their styles. Although they allegedly did not relate well on a personal level, their musical interaction, despite some occasional glitches, suggests a compatibility that neither would have been likely to acknowledge.

The program consists of the kind of standards that Getz and Baker could play in their sleep--”I’m Old Fashioned,” “My Ideal,” “Just Friends,” “But Not for Me”--as well as a couple of solid jazz lines, Dizzy Gillespie’s “Dizzy Atmosphere” and Benny Golson’s “Stablemates.”

And one is constantly aware of the differences in approach that, in fact, were what made the pair sound so well together: Baker’s cool, floating lyricism and Getz’s urgent, push-the-beat drive. But there also are times when they switch roles, when Baker suddenly plays impassioned bursts of notes, and Getz drifts into the smooth, upper-register sounds that first brought him to attention via his work with the Woody Herman band in the late ‘40s.

The most unexpectedly fascinating moments in this engaging program, however, are provided by Baker’s vocals. Singing with more warmth and maturity--as well as more occasional uncertainty-- than were present in his wispy numbers from the ‘50s and ‘60s, he nonetheless offers some valuable lessons in phrasing for any prospective jazz vocalist. And when he scats--something he rarely did on recordings--on “Just Friends” and “But Not for Me,” he demonstrates how effective the vocal style can be when it’s done in instrumentalist fashion, with regard for melodic flow and, above all, harmonic integrity.

Getz and Baker are supported superbly by pianist Jim McNeely, bassist George Mraz and drummer Victor Lewis, with Mraz, in particular, offering a view of a world-class rhythm section player at work, in both his ensemble and solo efforts.

Unlike Getz, guitarist Byrd’s linkage to bossa nova and the music of Brazil has remained connected through all the years. And here, backed by the invigorating rhythm section known as Trio Da Paz, with additional aid from tenor saxophonist Scott Hamilton, vibist Chuck Redd and singer Maucha Adnet, he applies bossa rhythms to everything from Jobim and traditional Brazilian folk tunes to Chopin and American Dixieland tunes.

The result is a persistently entertaining set of performances--light and pleasant, without reaching too deeply into the inner heart of the music. The combination of guitar and vibes gives the melody statements a warmly affecting quality, and Hamilton, who plays on seven tracks, adds a resonance of the Getz-Byrd collaborations. But Adnet’s hoarse-sounding voice, with its lack of timbral variety, is not an easily an acquired taste--the only distracting ingredient in an otherwise frothy Brazilian musical cocktail.

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