Of all the tenor saxophonists considered to be prime inheritors of Lester Young’s mantle of cool, Stan Getz is arguably the most eloquent and unquestionably the most commercially successful. In the early 1960s, Getz (1927-1991) became a household name, thanks to a series of popular recordings that ushered in the winsome new soft-samba sensation called “bossa nova.” But Getz had established his melodic mastery some 15 years before the bossa nova, and the nine selections herein echo and expand upon that mastery. Getz’s songbird sound is heard with such first-rate players as vibist Cal Tjader and pianists Vince Guaraldi, Lou Levy, and Bill Evans. Like Getz, Evans remains one of the all-time lyrical soloists, and their renderings of “Lover Man” and “But Beautiful” are especially ravishing.