Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto Getz/Gilberto 1STEP Numbered Limited Edition 180g 45rpm 2LP Scratch & Dent

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There have been more than 40 U.S. releases (and hundreds more worldwide) of Stan Getz's cultural touchstone album and for good reason: few recordings better capture the breezy warmth and easy-going sophistication of Brazilian bossa nova for an American jazz audience. Fewer recordings can replicate the you-are-there presence and flawlessly tight studio acoustics. Only Getz/Gilberto has Billboard Top-10-charting singles like "The Girl from Ipanema." When Impex Records jumps into this densely-populated fray with our own production, we need to bring maximum value and prestige to it. Challenge accepted. We worked directly with Stan's wife Monica Getz and their son Nicolaus to create the most authentic, best-presented Getz/Gilberto ever.

Exclusive to Impex's 1STEP Getz/Gilberto includes an insightful new interview/essay by Charles Granata featuring Monica reminiscences of the making of this record, the subsequent cultural phenomenon, and Stan's battles with some pretty heavy demons. Also unique to this release are two bonus tracks: an alternate mono 7" mix of "The Girl from Ipanema" (without the added echo, thank you very much) and a live recording of "Corcovado" from Carnegie Hall. Finally, the large-format, 36-page booklet features dozens of rare photos, the original album notes, and a fascinating personal remembrance from Monica Getz herself, celebrating her late husband's work and an inside look at Stan's family life while making the record!

Using the original analog master tapes and no computers at all, Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Mastering sought to keep the sense of space and tone on the master tape intact without unnecessary embellishment. Impex 1STEPs get you closer to the source, not the ideal.

We know you have many choices when it comes to enjoying this singular album. The Impex 1STEP of Getz/Gilberto cuts above all other releases with added-value content that takes you deeper into Stan Getz's life and process in a way never previously possible. This one's for the books: preorder one for your shelf now!

The 1STEP Process:
The Impex 1STEP process relies on short, tightly-controlled runs that require a new lacquer after each 500 pressings. This unforgiving format has the lacquer skipping the regular father-mother process, going right to a single convert and then pressing. Though this dramatically increases mastering and production costs, it also assures each run is more consistent from disc to disc, with less noise, clearer details and deeper bass.

Reducing production complexity to just a single "convert" disc between the lacquer and the press greatly improves groove integrity, diminishes non-fill anomalies and increases signal integrity from the master tape to your system.

What I love throughout all four sides are the colours heard from Getz's playing like never before. Sure, he's a master of breath control and tone manipulation through reed pressure and articulation, but here every subtlety is captured. Nothing goes amiss. Rhythmically, the new recut is superb. Far superior to those I've heard before. The new Impex will give you everything you ever dreamed of in this remastering. Very highly recommended.

This set…just feels human. It sounds like you have a band in your living room, with their humanity, their flaws, their virtues. It just feels like you have flesh and bone playing right in front of you!

An all-out assault on the state of the art!

...this one is clearly the most deluxe, well-researched, well-presented and most meticulously pressed '1Step' onto 180g Neotech VR900-Supreme semi-transparent vinyl....this new 1Step delivers greater detail, particularly in terms of transient attack precision and the Neotech VR900-Supreme produces drop dead quiet and timbral serenity. This formulation isn't ideal for every recording and/or musical genre, but it perfectly suits this one....As far as I'm concerned, Impex has delivered one of the most impressive reissue packages in the history of 'the vinyl revival' era. You'll appreciate the care that went into it as you listen, turn the pages, read the story and view the heretofore unpublished photos. You'll surely come away with a new appreciation for Getz/Gilberto.

I have six different copies of this album on vinyl issued over the years, and I wrote Verve's 50th anniversary edition liner notes. So listening to the Impex release was like running my hand over a polished wood surface feeling for imperfections. There were none. Instead, what I found was a recording of enormous tenderness, with each artist in the ensemble isolated in a bubble of intimacy. Their instruments were mixed perfectly and a lot more audio information has been displayed, especially in the midrange. In fact, it took a bit of adjusting to acclimate my ears to the cozy fidelity. Thanks to 1STEP, you're basically listening to what Creed and engineer Phil Ramone heard in the booth in March 1963.

Somehow singer-guitarist João Gilberto sounds more delicate, Astrud Gilberto sounds more innocent and unsteady, and Antonio Carlos Jobim's piano is more seductive. You can even hear Stan Getz's tenor saxophone pads clicking. The only things you won't hear are Astrud applying her lipstick and Jobim flicking his cigarette in an ashtray. All the rest of the audio information is here, carefully remastered.

What is there to say about this seminal recording that hasn't already been said? Well, apparently a lot! The folks at IMPEX Records have literally gone to town on this re-release giving it their 1 STEP treatment. What you may not know is that if vinyl is your poison of choice, this is probably the finest iteration of this record that you are likely to find. The surface noise is non-existent and the fidelity along with size of soundstage is fantastic. Impex has included two additional tracks not found on standard releases. One is a mono version of 'The Girl from Ipanema' and the other is live version of 'Corcovado' performed at Carnegie Hall in October 1964. Both, expectedly, sound incredible.

From the moment of the first needle drop, I immediately knew I was hearing an exceptional performance, and as the delicacy of João Gilberto's voice and his gently strummed guitar emerged from the silken and supremely quiet background, the experience simply defied belief. I've heard this music countless times before, but never like this! I'm callin' it: the glorious new 1STEP reissue of Getz/Gilberto will very likely never be bettered. Audiophiles and fans alike need to hear the clarity, enhanced level of quiet, and richly detailed sound these Neotech VR900 Supreme vinyl pressings imbue this music with to fully appreciate what a great album this always has been, and what an exceptional reissue the 1STEP package is!

I won't waste words: this Impex 2-LP 45 RPM 180-gram vinyl reissue is simply magnificent.

The IMPEX sets a new standard. There was an additional level of coherency and attack to the individual instruments and vocalists that was just so much more realistic and exciting! I was taken aback by the harmonic brilliance and the lifelike immediacy of all that was presented. The sound stage was now extended even further in all directions. Highs had the sweetness and texture of the real thing, yet with all the transient detail that can sometimes make your hair stand on end. Mids and bass had a visceral rightness and physicality that I had not quite heard before on the other pressings. All in all, a definite step up in sound quality that I did not expect! If you check Discogs, you will find that this title has been reissued well over 300 times. Many might be satisfied with their current choices and for good reason, but if you want the very best for both production and sound quality, this new IMPEX 1Step reissue is the one to have!

The new Impex 1 Step pressing improves the sound of each voice and instrument, but the greatest improvement is with Astrud and João Gilberto's vocals and Stan Getz's tenor saxophone. The vocals are three-dimensional and detailed in a way few recordings achieve. Not since Steve Hoffman's remastered LPs of Nat King Cole have I heard such thrillingly realistic vocal representations on LP. And Stan Getz's sax has never sounded sexier in a way that I thought was reserved for Ben Webster...if you want the best-sounding Getz/Gilberto, this deluxe set is well worth the price.

It's an album that cried out for the white glove remastering, extra features, and ultra-packaging that only Abey Fonn of Impex Records can produce. Fonn and her team have outdone themselves with this 180-gram, 45rpm 2-LP set. Sonically, Impex has taken a very good recording and added a sense of fluidity, immediacy, and dimensionality that raises it to truly transparent state-of-the-art levels. Listen closely and you can almost sense the temperature in the studio and measure the distance between musicians. Timbres are spot on and balances are superb, with lush warm vocals, a resonant, pitch-perfect standup bass, and colorful understated percussion. Getz/Gilberto is a vinyl showpiece of sonic naturalism and superb artistry that puts most vinyl reissues to shame. An extraordinary effort.

While 2024 is far from over, this is unlikely to be beaten as Audiophile LP of the Year. True, the 45rpm 1Step status gives it an advantage, but the source tapes used, the mastering and the VR-900 Supreme Vinyl ensure that you are unlikely to hear a better version of this never-out-of-print masterwork.