The man who found the music in Brazil

MR says:

An incredible story, how during preparations for the landmark Getz/Gilberto album produced by Creed Taylor, Stan heard Gilberto’s wife, Astrud, singing in their kitchen, and then insisted she be featured on the album against other’s objections. She was an essential reason for that effort’s greatness, of course.

Antonio Carlos Jobim loved how Stan Getz captured the essence of Brazilian music in his interpretations and improvisations while expanding its boundaries.
http://www.azuremilesrecords.com/Transcendental_Consolidation_The_Music_of_Stan_Getz.html

Mark Holston says:

I was stunned to answer the phone one day in the early 1990s and hear a voice announce, “Hello, this is Creed Taylor.” Creed had just read my cover story on David Byrne in JAZZIZ Magazine and said “I knew this was the guy I wanted to do a project for me in Brazil.” Talk about unintended consequences! But, one never knows who will see what they write and how they will respond to it.

For an aspiring music journalist and jazz critic, this was like winning the lottery. I greatly respected Creed and probably owned most of the CTI discography as well as a vast collection of his earlier efforts for Verve and Impulse.

In short, my assignment was to travel to Bahia and do location scouting for a music film Creed wanted to produce based on the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomble through the prism of a jazz-like score. The ambitious project featured saxophonist Donald Harrison, vocalist Kenia, and guitarist Romero Lubambo, among other notable Brazilian and North American musicians.

The film, The Devil’s Toothpick, was only released in Japan and in the short-lived laser disc format. The soundtrack, for which I wrote the liner notes, was later released in the U.S. on the CTI subsidiary label KUDU.

Subsequently, I was invited by Creed to write liner notes for the final chapter of CTI’s existence for the albums Afoxe by saxophonist Ernie Watts, featuring Brazilian star Gilberto Gil; Youkali, by guitarist Jim Hall, featuring Chet Baker and Grover Washington; The Power of Cool, by saxophonist Donald Harrison; and Voices, by pianist Bill O’Connell.

Thank you, Creed, for allowing me to be a small part of CTI’s distinguished and singular legacy.