AMG Review of Early Spring 1951

John Bush
All Music Guide

As a description, early spring doesn't fit the recording dates of this Stan Getz compilation; they actually range from December of 1950 to October of the following year. But the title actually refers to the first recording, "Early Spring," a January session for the Metronome All-Stars featuring Getz alongside fellow bop heroes Miles Davis, Max Roach, Lee Konitz, and George Shearing. The rest of the disc picks up a few odd dates for Getz-led quartets or quintets, the first two featuring pianist Horace Silver and the last two including guitarist Jimmy Raney. Although the material is fair -- Silver contributes "Potter's Luck" and Getz proves a whiz at standards ("Thou Swell," "The Song Is You") -- the truth is that this compilation includes very little of what made Stan Getz so special, neither during his entire career, the post-war period, nor even during 1951 itself.