Stan Getz
Voyage

"Voyage" is an album from 1986. It consists of 8 tracks featuring, in addition to the good Stan Getz, the great pianist Kenny Barron, drummer Victor Lewis, and George Mraz on double bass.

In the '80s, Getz was at the height of his maturity. His ideas, like knots, have come to fruition. Just the right amount of romanticism, precise swing, careful avoidance of any form of excess, and a search for the perfection of the "voice". "Voyage" is the symbol of the saxophonist's achievement of perfection, framed by his collaboration (the first in a series of 4) with Barron, with whom he had perfect synergy.

The album unfolds upon jazz standards and original pieces. It opens with "I Want To Say" by drummer Lewis, and it is the perfect approach to the album: the influence of a sober, graceful swing, with the drummer adding extra value. "Yesterday" is a sort of Getz-Mraz duo. The Czech bassist has a classical musical background but easily adapts to the American-flavored jazz lines. A compact work, where Barron's pianism (author of 3 tracks) can be sensed, with sustained rhythms and veils of melancholy. Not to mention brilliant, highly enjoyable solos, as in "Just Friends" which closes the album.

It is not easy to associate Getz with a particular style or trend. He is probably the most important white saxophonist of all time, but his art derives from his master (Lester Young), and the "black" roots of his music can thus be felt.

Swinging, emotional, romantic, and complete, but nothing revolutionary, nor anything too "traditional". A sort of reshaper of already established systems, in a synthesis of clean and essential sounds, which bring the "sound" back to an unexpected purity.