Of all his albums, this was Stan Getz’ favourite. Ours, too.
Freed from the formal orthodoxies of small-group bebop, and revelling in the freedoms opened up by Eddie Sauter’s thrilling strings-based arrangements, lyrical improvisation pours out of the saxophonist (with Lester Young coursing through as per). The music shimmies devil-may-care through jazz, classical, soundtrack, show-tune, and the rest.
Try the dazzling opener. A theme from Béla Bartók’s Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta is mashed into skittering, paranoid funk, with a killer spot for Roy Haynes. And next up, something quite different, a quiet, complexly tender tribute to Getz’s mum, exquisitely proffered. Just a shame Bill Evans wasn’t sitting in.
Original, knockout; very warmly recommended.

Duets with Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman, Hampton Hawes, and Archie Shepp.
‘Verve By Request.’

The guitarist recorded at Oliver Sain’s St Louis studio in 1969 — but the best stuff here isn’t funk, it’s a kind of shimmering, limber, spare steppers. With organ and a second, rhythm guitar, and one Paul Jackson on bass.

‘Verve By Request.’

A previously unreleased recording made at the Newport Jazz Festival in July,1966.

Superb singing, in Urdu, with reined-in accompaniment by Vijay Iyer on pianos and electronics, Shahzad Ismaily on bass and Moog.

The great Earth Wind & Fire singer with Robert Glasper, Christian McBride, Kamasi Washington and co. Kicks off with Curtis’ mighty Billy Jack.