Stan Getz, along with Ella, Sinatra and Tony Bennett, was one of the 20th century's most unique interpreters of what is now collectively referred to as the Great American Songbook. Though Stan's wide ranging work embraced everything from the romanticism of his personal favourite Focus to the dollar-spinning seductiveness of those Grammy Award-winning Bossa Nova albums, it's this most welcome compilation that captures this master musician in his real comfort zone. Bringing together three original albums – West Coast Jazz, The Steamer and Award Winner, Stan is supported by a first class Lou Levy-led rhythm team (plus the great Conte Candoli on the West Coast Jazz session) and while the choice of repertoire may well have proved impeccable, the real clincher has inevitably been that unmistakable signature sound which time hasn't tarnished. Quite the reverse, it remains as fresh sounding as the day when these performances were first hatched. As Stan displays his ability to delicately caress a melody such as ‘You're Blasé’ and then deliver one of his best ever showings on a breathless full-tilt tear-up, ‘Shine’, an item once viewed as mere frippery. Without question one of this year's finest reissues.