Stan Getz: When The World Was Young

As Stan Getz must have known since his only live recording of this tune was made in Paris the original song, titled "Le Chevalier de Paris" (the Paris Knight), is French and was sung by the great Edith Piaf. Few French listeners knew it, however, since the song never became famous, although it was sung with more interesting English lyrics by the greatest American vocalists. In a way, then, Getz brings it back home, and magnificently: his sound is so mellow and lyrical, as it floats above vibist Gary Burton's soft ethereal chords during the verse, that it could be a singer's voice making you cry. With Haynes's brushes and Swallow's bass slowly dancing around him, Getz enters the chorus, and only then starts improvising, yet in such a melodic way that it hardly changes from the original line. A couple of deep low notes, sprung from his sax like calls from a ship's foghorn, are the only distractions from the dreamy atmosphere this great storyteller creates with his empathetic quartet. And when the Parisian audience finally roars its approval, the listener can only concur. On this night and on this song, Stan Getz really was "The Sound."