Moments in Time

Chronique

Recorded the same week as Getz/Gilberto '76, Resonance Records' companion album, 2016's Moments in Time, captures saxophonist Stan Getz performing live at San Francisco's Keystone Korner in May 1976. To celebrate the release of Getz's reunion album with Brazilian singer/guitarist João Gilberto, 1976's The Best of Two Worlds, the saxophonist booked a week of shows at the Keystone backed by his quartet and featuring Gilberto. Whereas Getz/Gilberto '76 showcases the Gilberto performances, Moments in Time finds Getz appearing alone with his band, featuring pianist Joanne Brackeen, drummer Billy Hart, and bassist Clint Houston. Despite the wealth and fame he accumulated from his initial 1960s bossa nova albums, Getz remained a creatively restless, forward-thinking artist over the coming years. His band here, arguably one of his best of the period, also bore this forward-looking vision out with performances that straddled the line between lyrical intimacy and aggressive, extroverted improvisation. One can also see where Getz's taste was at the time based on his song choices, pulling together standards like "Summer Night" with more harmonically layered pieces like Wayne Shorter's languid and sultry "Infant Eyes" and the funky Kenny Wheeler composition "The Cry of the Wild Goose." As with Getz/Gilberto '76, Moments in Time is a thoughtfully curated package featuring not only some of Getz's best live performances of the period, but also liner notes from producer Zev Feldman, Keystone Korner club owner Todd Barkan, and others, as well as interviews with bandmembers Hart and Brackeen.
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