After a decade establishing himself as one of the premiere tenor saxophonists in jazz with a slew of top Verve albums,
Stan Getz began the '60s with this first foray into the world of strings. This, of course, would not be his last album with strings; later milestones like the
Eddie Sauter-arranged
Focus and lesser bowing dates like the
Michel Legrand collaboration,
Communications '72, would follow. And while certainly not on the same level as
Focus,
Cool Velvet still finds
Getz at his melodic best over the course of ten tracks. Like earlier strings dates by
Charlie Parker and
Clifford Brown,
Cool Velvet's slinky charts bring out the best in
Getz's already romantic and liquid-toned approach. Recorded in Germany with a local combo, the album features
Russell Garcia's (
Louis Armstrong,
Mel Tormé,
Anita O'Day) relatively tame charts on a program that includes such highlights as "Early Autumn" and "Born to Be Blue." A very pleasant outing that trades in the cinematic atmospherics of
Focus for some straightforward ballad dreaminess.
Cool Velvet is also available as a two-fer with 1966's
Voices album.