Just three short months separates these unauthorised low-fi Birdland airshots and an album, which was to spark the biggest worldwide musical phenomenon prior to the arrival of Beatlemania. Following a self-imposed three-year exile in Scandinavia, Getz returned to the States to rebuild his reputation and as the Birdland recordings affirm, that powered up by a go-for-broke rhythm section (‘Jordu’) Stanley The Steamer had lost none of his unique skills. Now, it may have originally been titled Jazz Samba, but as the lead off track ‘Desafinado’ crashed the global singles charts and was quickly re-branded as the Bossa Nova. While just about everyone from Donald Duck (fact!) to Elvis jumped on the bandwagon, Getz's album is by far the most seductive. Unawares that he was about to instigate such a massive trend; there was absolutely no (commercial) pressure at the time as he remains at his lyrical best throughout. Even when full-blown success arrived like the advancing 8th Army, Getz kept his familiar cool, while Gary McFarland's unobtrusive big band arrangements (‘Manha De Carnaval’), plus Jim Hall's guitar, supply a gentle mood-setting backdrop. File under indispensible.