What the World Needs Now

Product Description:

Personnel includes: Stan Getz (tenor saxophone); Richard Evans, Claus Ogerman (conductor); Jimmy Buffington (French horn); Paul Gershman, David Mankovitz, David Nadien, Gerard Tarack (violin); Bernard Zaslav (viola); Charles McCracken (cello); Gloria Agostini (harp); David Carey (vibraphone); Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock (piano); Bill Horwath (cymbalom); Phil Upchurch, Jim Hall, Kenny Burrell (guitar); Walter Booker, Ron Carter (bass); Roy Haynes, Grady Tate (drums); Artie Butler, Bobby Rosengarden (percussion).

Engineers include: Doug Brand, Malcolm Chisholm.

Recorded at Ter-Mar Recording Studios, Chicago, Illinois on August 31, 1967; Van Gelder Recording Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on December 6, 1966; A&R Recording, New York, New York on February 14, 1968. Originally released on Verve (8752). Includes liner notes by Morgan Ames.

Digitally remastered using 22-bit technology by Chris Herles (Polygram Studios).

This is part of Verve's By Request series.

In the hands of a less formidable mortal, WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW might have slipped into the insipid sounds heard piped into elevators and malls. But Stan Getz, the venerable tenorman with more musical personality in his pinky than some entire bands possess collectively, would have it otherwise. With his long sense of line and phrasing and his unerring ear for dynamics, Getz steers listeners through some of the catchiest melodies written since the White House momentarily became Camelot.

Getz is backed by the likes of Chick Corea, Jim Hall, Phil Upchurch, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Roy Haynes and Grady Tate--not your typical studio cats. And with colorful but respectful and spacious arrangements by Richard Evans and Claus Ogerman, Getz and company show how strong pop material can be inspiring grist for the player's improvisational mill. Highlights include the swinging "Wives And Lovers," a very sexy, rubato-like interpretation of "The Look Of Love" and the rhythmic, Bacharach signature sound of "Any Old Time Of The Day." Closing the disc are two alternate takes from the original sessions and the melancholic "Tara's Theme" by Max Steiner from the film "Gone With The Wind."