#0033: Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd - Jazz Samba [*]

Well, it's not a misleading title so I'll give it a star for honesty.  Stan Getz and his breathy tenor are responsible for bringing The Girl From Ipanema into our lives (apparently).  Presumably Charlie Byrd's proclivity to Latin styles is what bonded him to Mr Getz on this project or maybe the twanging of his guitar is supposed to put an edge on the otherwise marble surface of Getz's sound.

It's every kind of smooth creep sidling up to an innocent woman drinking alone.  Originator of the cliches though it may be, that doesn't make it any easier to listen to - which is ironic considering this is smack damn in the middle of the easy listening sector of the musical spectrum. 

There's no denying the precision of both players' techniques but it's too perfect.  It's the grit in the oyster that makes the pearl and without that grit, it's just a gob full of phlegm on the half shell.