Big Band Bossa Nova - Stan Getz

Noite Triste

Big Band Bossa Nova
Stan Getz
With The Gary McFarland Orchestra
Arranged and Conducted by Gary McFarland
Produced by Creed Taylor
Cover Painting: Olga Albizu
Recorded in New York City, August 27 & 28, 1962
Engineering: George Kneurr and Frank Laico

Personnel:

Stan Getz: Tenor Saxophone
Trumpets: Doc Severinsen, Bernie Glow or Joe Ferrante, Clark Terry or Nick Travis
French Horn: Ray Alonge
Trombones: Tony Studd or Ray Brookmeyer
Alto Flute: Eddie Caine
Clarinet: Ray Beckenstein and/or Babe Clark and/or Walt Levinsky
Bass Clarinet: Romeo Penque
Guitar: Jim Hall
Piano: Hank Jones
Bass: Tommy Williams
Drums: Johnny Rae
Tambourine: Jose Paulo
Cabassa: Carmen Costa

From the inside cover: My first experience to bossa nova was in the Spring of 1960 when a friend played a recording by Joao Gilberto, a Brazilian guitarist and vocalist. I liked it immediately. Naturally, I responded to the rhythm, but it was more than that. There seemed to be more underplay, more subtlety than in other Latin rhythms but just as much buzz or intensity. The songs had interesting chord progressions, and the melodic intervals were more modern than in traditional samba melodies. I'm sure that Gilberto's singing had much to do with my response to this music. His voice has an indefinable quality – something close to melancholy, but not quite.

I asked a Brazilian friend about the bossa nova, and he explained that it is a variation of the samba with modern harmonies and more syncopation that the traditional samba. He also told me that the first reaction in Brazil to this new music was similar to the American public's reaction to be-bop in the 40s – it was misunderstood by the traditionalists. However, it is now more widely accepted.

When Stan asked me to write an album for him, he told me to do anything I wanted. I had written a few bossa nova arrangements for Cal Tjader's group, and Stan had recorded a jazz samba album with Charlie Byrd. We both enjoyed working with this music, so we decided to do a big band album with four songs by Brazilian composers and four songs of mine.

Also from the inside cover: Gary McFarland has been hailed as the brightest young composer/arranger in jazz by critics, writers, and fellow musicians. Still in his 20s, McFarland has contributed fresh, original material to the book of Gerry Mulligan Concert Jazz Band, and has written for Johnny Hodges, Anita O'Day, Ray Brown, and Bob Brookmeyer, among others. His lovely original ballad, Why Are You Blue, is repertoire material in the programs offered by the Modern Jazz Quartet. A native of Los Angeles, McFarland first became interested in jazz while at the University of Oregon. He took up vibes while in the Army in 1954. He was encouraged to pursue jazz as a career by John Lewis of the Modern Jazz Quartet, jazz columnist Ralph J. Gleason, and jazz star Buddy Montgomery. Scholarships to the School of Jazz in Lenox and The Berklee School in Boston helped give him a solid musical foundation. His first album was The Jazz Version Of "How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying" (Verce V/V6-8443), hailed by reviewers as the first truly jazz version of a Broadway score. His brilliant arrangements for Anita O'Day's album, All The Sad Young Men (V/V6-8442), won him wide acceptance and even greater acclaim. – Don Cerulli

Manha De Carnival (Morning Of Carnival)
Balanco No Samba (Street Dancing)
Melancolico (Melancholy)
Entre Amigos (Sympathy Between Friends)
Chega De Saudade (Too Much Longing)
Noite Triste (Night Sadness)
Samba De Uma Nota (One Note Samba)
Bim Bom