Aside from a series of studio sessions a decade earlier for Verve, this LP represents the only other meeting featuring
Stan Getz with pianist
Bill Evans. Originally issued by the notorious bootleg label Jazzdoor with six selections from a Laren, Holland concert in 1974, Milestone acquired the masters for a legitimate release and added four bonus tunes from a concert in Antwerp, Belgium a week later.
Getz meshes almost perfectly with
Evans' trio (with bassist
Eddie Gómez and drummer
Marty Morell), with only one sore spot:
Getz ignored the pianist's request not to play the under-rehearsed "Stan's Blues," which provoked
Evans into quickly dropping out and signaling his sidemen to avoid solos of their own. But the remaining tracks are all invigorating, particularly
Evans' brisk "Funkallero" and the lush take of
Jimmy Rowles' ballad "The Peacocks." It seems a shame that there were not additional opportunities for
Getz and
Evans to work together on other occasions, but it is possible that their strong personalities would have clashed. Highly recommended! ~ Ken Dryden