Focus

The first collaboration between saxophonist Stan Getz and arranger Eddie Sauter, Focus asked the reedist to forge spontaneous melodies over harmonically ambiguous arrangements. Drummer Roy Haynes adds a tension-raising rhythm on “I’m Late, I’m Late,” but most of the album calls on Getz to shape exquisite balladry over a string section helmed by members of the prestigious Beaux Arts String Quartet; they achieve a romantic swoon on “I Remember When” and a pulse-quickening heat on “Night Rider.”