Tenor Saxes Trading Breezy Bop Lines
Two saxophone voices weaving cool, airy bop lines over a steady swing pulse.
Put on The Brothers and the first thing you notice is the airiness. Two tenor saxophones, Stan Getz and Zoot Sims, float lines over a rhythm section that swings without pushing, the tempos loose and conversational, the mood easy but alert. The sound is light and unhurried, with the close harmonies and playful call-and-response you'd expect from players who came up through the same band circles.
The album is a compilation of sessions from the early 1950s, and it draws on the "Four Brothers" sound that Getz, Sims and their peers forged in Woody Herman's band. Several of the cuts come from a 1952 sextet date led by Sims and Al Cohn, which adds Kai Winding's trombone and George Wallington's piano. Art Blakey and Percy Heath hold the groove underneath. The playing is fun more than profound. AllMusic reviewer Stephen Cook called it a fine release that nicely showcases the cool, proto-West Coast bop these players helped shape, and that is an accurate read.
As a place in Getz's catalogue, this is a worthwhile side document rather than a starting point. If you want Getz at his most fully realized, look to his later Verve work. But for listeners interested in the tenor-sax conversation of the mid-1950s, and in how cool bop was being shaped before it hardened into formula, The Brothers is an easy, rewarding listen.
Who's playing
Gene Rameydouble bass
Percy Heathdouble bass
Walter Bishop, Jr.piano
George Wallingtonpiano
Al Cohntenor saxophone
Allen Eagertenor saxophone
Stan Getzbaritone saxophone
Brew Mooretenor saxophone
Zoot Simstenor saxophone
Kai Windingtrombone
Charlie Perrydrums
Art Blakeydrums
Where next?
More by Stan Getz
All 36 albums →
The musicians on this record
Vol. 2: Mission Eternal 1959
Art Blakey
plays drums (drum set) here
plays drums (drum set) here
Jazz Alive! A Night at the Half Note 1959
Al Cohn
plays tenor saxophone here
plays tenor saxophone here
Jazz Alive! A Night At The Half Note (Live) 1959
Zoot Sims
plays tenor saxophone here
plays tenor saxophone here
