1975 · Album
Captain Marvel
Recorded March 3, 1972 · Columbia · Produced by Not specified in available sources
Getz and Corea's Electric Standoff
A three-year gap between recording and release, but the tension never faded.
Captain Marvel pairs Stan Getz's uncompromising tenor with Chick Corea's electric restlessness, and the friction between them is the album's real subject. Corea composed most of the material, and his fusion instincts — electric piano, modal movement, a forward-looking sense of rhythm — push against everything Getz represents: swing-era principles, harmonic clarity, a player who refuses to chase trends. That tension is not a flaw. It's the engine. The title track, steamy and Latin-drenched, lets both men win; elsewhere, like on the opening "Finger Painting," you hear Getz essentially saying no to fusion's abstractions, holding fast to melody and space while Corea swirls around him. Stanley Clarke anchors it all on bass, Tony Williams and Airto Moreira lock in the rhythm section with bruising precision — this is a band that knows it's pulling in opposite directions and plays that conflict straight. AllMusic reviewer Thom Jurek rated it 4/5 and called it one of Getz's finest recordings of the late 1960s–early 1970s period, though The Penguin Guide was less convinced. The three-year gap between the March 1972 session and this 1975 release matters: by the time Captain Marvel reached listeners, Corea was already a star, Getz was aging, and fusion had moved on. The album arrived out of time, which is part of why it still sounds vital.
Who's playing
Where next?
More by Stan Getz
Jazz Samba Encore! 1963
Focus 1961
Stan Getz & Bill Evans 1960
Stan Getz and The Oscar Peterson Trio 1957
The musicians on this record
Crystal Silence 1973
Chick Corea
plays piano here
plays piano here
School Days 1976
Stanley Clarke
plays bass here
plays bass here
Million Dollar Legs 1966
Tony Williams
plays drums (drum set) here
plays drums (drum set) here
♫
Virgin Land 1974
Airto Moreira
plays percussion here
plays percussion here
