Three Saxophones, One Room, Pure Bebop
Gillespie, Getz, and Stitt in the same studio, playing bebop at full speed with no safety net.
The session that became For Musicians Only (1957) brought together three of bebop's most formidable reed players — Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet, Stan Getz on tenor saxophone, and Sonny Stitt on alto — with Ray Brown on bass, Herb Ellis on guitar, John Lewis on piano, and Stan Levey on drums. The premise was straightforward and risky: let these players loose on material that demanded precision, speed, and the kind of telepathy only happens when musicians trust each other completely. There were no arrangements to hide behind, no safety net. What you hear is the sound of professionals calling each other up and answering immediately.
Gillespie's trumpet cuts through everywhere, angular and conversational, while Getz and Stitt trade solos with the kind of competitive sharpness that makes bebop sing. The two saxophonists don't step on each other; instead they establish a call-and-response that feels like an argument between old friends. Ellis and Brown anchor everything with quiet precision, and Lewis's comping is crisp and knowing. The tempos stay fast throughout, which was the whole point — these were musicians proving they could play anything, anywhere, at any speed.
Disc magazine rated this session 5/5, recognizing it as exactly what it promised: no filler, no softening, just bebop played at the height of the form by people who had nothing left to prove. It's essential listening if you want to hear what the music sounded like when the best players in New York gathered in a studio with clear heads and sharp ears.
Who's playing
Ray Brownbass
John Lewispiano
Herb Ellisguitar
Stan Getztenor saxophone
Sonny Stittalto saxophone
Dizzy Gillespietrumpet
Stan Leveydrums
Where next?
More by Stan Getz
All 36 albums →
The musicians on this record
♫
Fontessa 1956
John Lewis
plays piano here
plays piano here
Cannonball Adderley and the Poll-Winners 1960
Ray Brown
plays bass here
plays bass here
Birks Works: The Verve Big-Band Sessions 1958
Dizzy Gillespie
plays trumpet here
plays trumpet here
Herb Ellis Meets Jimmy Giuffre 1959
Herb Ellis
plays guitar here
plays guitar here
