Stan Getz – Jurre Haanstra
Forest Eyes (OST)
CBS – CBS 84113 – Netherlands, 1980
Nice gatefold
album bought for 1 euro at the annual spring “brocante” in my Brussels’ neighbourhood. I had never heard about this album which
seems to have been forgotten by CD re-issue programs – obviously for good
reasons IMHO - until very recently since it was included in a recent CBS box
set. This is a mp3 rip from my LP
. If you want it in a higher definition
(I doubt anyone would spend more than 1 euro on this album, despite – I repeat
– a nice gatefold sleeve), get the box set (and still you won’t get the nice
gatefold sleeve, which is the best part of the album).
I wanted to know
if I was the only one to find this album dreadful. As you all know, Stan Getz is a bit of an
icon in jazz circles, therefore daring to criticize (some of) his works may be
verging pretty close to anathema. But,
being iconoclastic by nature, I persist and sign. Anyhow, I did a search on the net and found
two fairly different sets of opinions.
On the one side,
Doug Payne who’s pretty benign in his assessment: “Getz is typically lovely from start to finish”.
On the other
side, I found on the French Amazon website a rather sarcastic but lucid comment Stan Getz nous livre ici ce qui est sans
doute la plus mauvaise prestation de sa carriere (Stan Getz gives us here
what is probably the worst performance of his whole career). No more Mr Nice
guy!
Doug Payne: the
nice guy
Forest Eyes, a
“strings” album the tenor saxophonist recorded in Holland in late 1979 with Dutch
composer Jurre Haanstra. The little-known album has never appeared before in
the United States and recalls such previous Getz triumphs waxed years earlier
with Eddie Sauter, namely Focus (Verve, 1962) and the soundtrack album Mickey
One (Verve, 1965). Haanstra (b. 1952), best known as a composer of film and TV
scores, notably for his father, director Bert Haanstra (1916-97), and for the
popular Dutch detective series Baantjer, featuring harmonica player Jean
'Toots' Thielemans as guest soloist, got his start as a jazz drummer and
percussionist (he plays drums on this album’s “Tails Part 2” and “Little
Lady”). He has since gone on to become a world-class conductor and composer and
arranger for a diverse range of artists including Petula Clark, Michael Franks,
Johnny Griffin, Julian Joseph, Michel Petrucciani and Clark Terry. Haanstra
crafts a lovely canvas for Getz to splash his lyrical watercolors upon here,
mixing traditional orchestral jazz with some late 70s fusion grooves, among
which stand out as the album’s best moments (the Bob James-like “Tails Part 1
& 2” and “Little Lady” especially). Though often considered a soundtrack
album, Forest Eyes only features several of Jurre Haanstra’s songs from his
father Bert’s 1979 film Een Pak Slaag (the main theme, “Shades of Blue,”
“Silva” and “Eye of The Storm”). Getz is typically lovely from start to finish.
But brief as it is, Forest Eyes sadly never offers that one compositional
moment that makes you feel this is anywhere near as significant as something like
Focus. Forest Eyes was issued on CD in Europe in the mid ‘90s and has long been
out of print until now.
La plus mauvaise période de Stan Getz se situe entre 1967 et 1980.
Victime de ses addictions (à l'alcool et à la drogue), il enregistre quelques
rares réussites et de nombreux autres disques assez médiocres voire, pour
certains, désastreux.
Stan Getz nous livre ici ce qui est sans doute la plus mauvaise
prestation de sa carrière.
Entre cordes et synthétiseurs, la musique est dans de trop rares moments
sans intérêt, le reste du temps pénible.
Les thèmes de Jurre Haanstra sont d'une indigence rare.
1/ "We Are Free : Sur un arrangement "symphonique", notre
liberté nous est précieuse car elle nous permet de zapper très vite. A noter,
pour être objectif, la magnifique sonorité de Stan.
2/ "Tails Part 1 & 2" : Là, on a droit au synthé sur du
binaire. Un gérant de super marché qui passerait ça prendrait le risque de
faire fuir ses clients.
3/ "Shades Of Blue" est le thème principal du film "Een
Park Slaag" que les cinéphiles ont pu éviter sous son autre nom "Mr.
Slotter's Jubilee". Si le thème semble s'inspirer, mais juste dans les
premières notes de certaines compositions de Nino Rota, c'est plus le plagiat
de quelques accords et l'inspiration a donné lieu à une expiration de mauvaise
haleine.
4/ "Heron's Flight" On attend toujours le décollage du héron.
5/ "Forest Eyes" nous rend heureux que la forêt n'ait pas
d'oreilles.
6/ "Drowsy" est un thème guilleret, sans doute le moins pire
du disque car il laisse plus de liberté à Stan pour s'exprimer. Mais bon, pas
de quoi crier "venez écouter".
7/ "Silva" est un autre thème tiré du même film que
"Shades Of Blue". Si l'on a faim, cela peut servir de soupe sans
saveur. Le compositeur devait être un précurseur du recyclage des déchets.
8/ "Little Lady" est mon "plus pire" avec
"Tails Part 1 & 2"
9/ "Eye Of The Storm" : troisième morceau tiré du même film a deux
qualités : on retrouve la sonorité de Stan et, surtout, c'est le dernier
morceau du CD.
Enregistré en Hollande en 1979, ce disque a été édité en Hollande en
1980, ponctuant ainsi de la pire des manières la plus mauvaise décennie de
Getz.
Tracklist & Credits
A1 We Are Free 5:11
A2 Tails - Part 1 & 2 6:00
Bass Guitar – Paul Bagmeyer / Drums – Jurre
Haanstra / Electric Piano – Rob Franken / Guitar – Henk Braaf
A3 Shades Of Blue (Main Theme From The Bert
Haanstra Film "Een Pak Slaag") 3:14
A4 Heron's Flight 4:02
B1 Forest Eyes 3:20
B2 Drowsy 4:07
Bass – Jan Hollestelle / Drums – Victor Jones
(2) / Electric Piano – Jurre Haanstra / Guitar – Chuck Loeb / Percussion –
Jurre Haanstra, Willy Tjon Ajong / Synthesizer – Peter Schön
B3 Silva (From The Film "Een Pak
Slaag") 3:30
B4 Little Lady 4:00
Arranged By – Henk Braaf, Jurre Haanstra / Bass
Guitar – Paul Bagmeyer / Drums – Jurre Haanstra / Electric Piano – Willy Tjon
Ajong / Guitar – Henk Braaf / Synthesizer – Peter Schön
B5 Eye Of The Storm (From The Film "Een
Pak Slaag") 2:52
Credits
• Composed
By, Arranged By, Conductor, Producer – Jurre Haanstra
• Concertmaster
– Benny Behr
• Tenor
Saxophone – Stan Getz
• Double
Bass – Koos Serierse (tracks: A1, A3, A4, B4)
• Electric
Piano – Rob Van Kreeveld (tracks: A1, A3, A4, B1)
• Piano
– Rob Van Kreeveld (tracks: A1, A3, A4, B1)
• Producer
– Ruud Jacobs
• Recorded
By, Engineer [Mixing] – Emile Elsen