Best Known As: The jazz saxophonist who did "The Girl From Ipanema"
Stan Getz had a long career as a saxophone stylist between the 1940s and the 1980s, but he's probably best known for popularizing the bossa nova sound of jazz in the early 1960s, with the hit "The Girl From Ipanema." He grew up in New York and was a natural on the sax, dropping out of high school to become a professional musician. During the 1940s he played as a sideman with the bands of Jack Teagarden, Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and Woody Herman, making a name for himself with his performance in Herman's "Early Autum" (1948). From then on, Getz toured the world on his own and with bands, all the while battling booze and heroin. His 1961 album Focus was well-received, and his career rebounded with collaborations with Charlie Byrd (1962's Jazz Samba) and Joao Gilberto (the 1965 Grammy-winning "The Girl From Ipanema"). Getz continued to tour during the 1970s, and he got a good response from 1980's Anniversary. In the mid-1980s he taught at Stanford University and played internationally, but his last years were complicated by a messy divorce and health problems. Getz, admired for his melodic sensibilities and natural gift for jazz interpretation, ranks alongside the more "edgy" reed players of his generation, including John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy.
Feb 2, 1927. American jazz saxophonist Stan Getz was born at Philadelphia, PA. He introduced the cool-jazz style, which became a major movement in the 1950s, and the bossa nova (new wave) style of the 1960s. Getz received 11 Grammy Awards and was the first jazz musician to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year (1965), for “The Girl from Ipanema.” Died at Malibu, CA, June 6, 1991.
(born Feb. 2, 1927, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S. — died June 6, 1991, Malibu, Calif.) U.S. jazz saxophonist. Getz was influenced by Lester Young and became known for his light tone and ethereal approach while performing as one of the "Four Brothers" of Woody Herman's Second Herd (1947 – 49). With the advent of the cool jazz of the 1950s, he began to dominate jazz popularity polls, and his incorporation of Brazilian bossa nova music in the early 1960s brought him to a wider public and commercial success.
Getz, Stan, 1927-91, American jazz tenor saxophonist, b. Philadelphia, Pa., as Stanley Gayetsky. As a mature musician he was especially known for his "cool" jazz style. He began playing as a teenager in Jack Teagarden's band, later appearing with bandleading greats Stan Kenton, Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, and Woody Herman. His early playing was heavily influenced by Lester Young, and he recorded a number of singles with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie and Gerry Mulligan. During the 1960s Getz experimented with the Brazilian bossa nova sound, which was particularly suited to his breathy style and resulted in such hit records as "Desafinado" and "The Girl from Ipanema." His later work continued to be improvisational, expressive, emotional, and highly melodic, but with a somewhat harder edge.
(gĕts) , Stan (Originally Stanley Gayetsky.) 1927-1991.
American tenor saxophonist who played in several big bands, including those of Benny Goodman and Woody Herman. He is also known for his bossa nova recordings, especially "The Girl from Ipanema" (1963).
Born Stanley Getz, February 2,1927, in Philadelphia, PA; died of liver cancer, June 6, 1991; son of Alexander and Goldie Getz; married Monica Silfveskiold, 1956 (divorced, 1987); children: Steven, David, Beverly, Pamela, Nicholas.
Played with the big bands of Jack Teagarden, Stan Kenton, and Benny Goodman, 1942–47; played with Woody Herman’s original Four Brothers sax section, 1947–49; leader of various quartets, beginning in 1949; toured Europe and lived in Copenhagen, 1958–61; recorded Jazz Samba, 1962; signed with Columbia, c. 1970; returned to leading traditional jazz quartets, 1980s.
Awards: Grammy Award for best recording, 1962, for “Desafinado,” and 1964, for “The Girl from Ipanema”; National Academy of Recording Artists’ best record of the year for “The Girl from Ipanema,” 1964; ranked at the top of Metronome and Down Beat readers’ polls every year throughout the 1950s.
Saxophonist
Best known for his relaxed, melodic improvisations, Stan Getz was one of the most celebrated jazz musicians of his time. He first broke into the public consciousness as "The Sound" during his tenure with the big bands in the 1940s; he became an important figure in the "cool" movement of the 1950s; and, in the 1960s, was the primary disseminator of bossa nova, a mixture of jazz and Brazilian samba rhythms. He remained a primary force in modern jazz throughout his life. As Joseph Hooper said of Getz in the New York Times Magazine, "Inarguably he is one of that ever-diminishing handful of geniuses who have shaped jazz since the 1940s, about half the music’s natural life."
Getz practiced tenor sax and bassoon as a child, although he had only six months of lessons and never studied music theory or harmony. In order to contribute to the family finances, he quit school in the ninth grade to get work as a musician. Two years later, in 1942, he was given the chance to play with Jack Teagarden, the best jazz trombonist of his day. He then joined Stan Kenton’s big band, contributing to the hits "Eager Beaver" and "Tampico." After stints with Jimmy Dorsey and Benny Goodman, in 1947, Getz found a spot in Woody Herman’s band as one of the original Four Brothers, the sax section that gave the band its unique sound. He established himself as a lyricist with his improvisational solo "Early Autumn," which he recorded with Herman.
With his reputation established, Getz left Herman’s band in 1949 to front a quartet. Once the guitarist Jimmy Raney joined the group, the quintet solidified their following among be-bop fans. Jack Sohmer of Down Beat describes Getz’s versatility in a review of The Complete Recordings of the Stan Getz Quintet with Jimmy Raney: "Such tracks as The Song Is You’ … and ‘Budo’ will immediately belie the notion that Getz was only comfortable with ballads and, somewhat later, lilting Latin melodies. On these selections, as well as many more throughout, Getz proves himself an early master of cookery, 52nd St.-style." Getz collaborated with a number of jazz greats in this period, including Oscar Peterson, Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bob Brookmeyer. His 1957 concert with J. J. Johnson resulted in one of his most highly acclaimed recordings, At the Opera House.
The Cool School Getz’s cool style and his self-destructive desire to live on the edge made him a hero of the beat generation. As Hooper explained, "It was no accident that Getz rose to stardom in the ‘50s, the decade of Dean and Brando, of cool surfaces and passionate, roiled interiors."
However, alcohol and drugs played an important part in the lives of jazz musicians at the time, and Getz’s life was no exception. His increasingly expensive addiction to heroin led to his attempt to steal narcotics from a Seattle drugstore in 1954. After his arrest and a six-month prison term, he jumped back into his musical career, resuming his pattern of frequent appearances and record dates, with his fame undiminished. He headlined for Norman Grantz’s Jazz at the Philharmonic in 1958 and toured with them in Europe. The same year he moved to Copenhagen, where he stayed until 1961.
When Getz returned to the United States, the "cool school" of jazz was out and John Coltrane’s aggressive tenor sax style was in. However, rather than cater to popular opinion, Getz continued to play in his own relaxed style. His self-knowledge paid off: His improvisations over Eddie Sauter’s compositions for strings on the album Focus received widespread praise from critics. It has been considered one of the only successful with-strings jazz albums ever produced.
Bossa Nova In 1962, guitarist Charlie Byrd suggested to Getz that they collaborate on an album that would incorporate a new sound he had heard in Brazil. This sound, a combination of traditional folk samba rhythms with jazz improvisation, was called bossa nova, or new wave, by the Brazilians. Getz’s and Byrd’s collaboration, released in 1962 as Jazz Samba, became one of the most popular jazz albums ever recorded. It included the hits "Desafinado" ("Slightly Out of Tune") and "Samba de Una Nota So" ("One Note Samba"), which were composed by the Brazilian pianist Antonio Carlos Jobim.
Jazz Samba initiated a bossa nova craze in the United States, and many jazz and pop artists attempted to cash in on the enthusiasm with their own bossa nova recordings. Most were considered far inferior to Jazz Samba and Getz’s subsequent releases, Big Band Bossa Nova and Jazz Samba Encore, which were both artistic and commercial successes. By 1964, bossa nova had been overplayed and was falling out of favor with the public. However, Getz revived the form’s popularity with Getz/Gilberto, a collaboration with the Brazilian innovators of bossa nova, singer-guitarist Joâo Gilberto and pianist Antonio Carlos Jobim.
Because Gilberto sang only in Portuguese, his wife, Astrud Gilberto, sang a few of the pieces in English. Although she had never before sung professionally, her seductive rendition of "The Girl from Ipanema" combined perfectly with Getz’s wafting, lyrical sax playing, making this song phenomenally successful. It won the 1964 Grammy for best record, and the National Academy of Recording Artists voted Getz/Gilberto the best jazz album of the year.
Back to the Traditional Quartet After concentrating on bossa novas in the mid-’60s, Getz returned to playing more traditional modern jazz. Many talented musicians emerged from Getz’s groups, including Jack De Johnette, Steve Swallow, Tony Williams, and Chick Corea, whose famous "La Fiesta" first appeared on Getz’s Captain Marvel album. Getz also encouraged young composers. He was one of the first to recognize and use the talents of Eddie Sauter and Lalo Schifrin.
Although Getz made approximately 130 records throughout his career, he never applied that expertise in playing to composing. As he explained to Down Beats Josef Woodard, "I’m a sad-ass writer, a lazy writer. Everytime I did try to write something over the years, I’d get up the next morning and change it and the next morning change it again and the next … until I’d finally rip it up. It’s because I’m a player, and players play something different every time."
Getz signed with Columbia in the 1970, and, according to Down Beat’s John McDonough, "felt subtle company pressures to ‘broaden his audience’ in the manner of Miles Davis." Getz complied by experimenting with electronics and rock rhythms, particularly in his album Another World, but returned eventually to his traditional acoustic rhythm section. As he told Woodard, "For my taste, there’s really nothing in the whole world better than an acoustic rhythm section when it’s popping. It seems to vibrate inside your body. You seldom get it, but when you get it, that can be felt. … A lot of times, listening to electric music just feels like I’m taking shock treatments."
The Mature Getz Getz released several critically acclaimed jazz quartet albums in the 1980s, particularly Anniversary and The Stockholm Concert. Of Anniversary, Down Beat reporter Kevin Whitehead said, "His tone had deepened a little bit, but at 60 he was playing as elegantly as ever. If anything, his ballads … may be even richer and more beautiful." The Stockholm Concerns considered equally resonant and Getz’s playing perhaps even more emotionally complex.
The last album Getz released before his death from liver cancer in 1991 was Apasionado, which included aspects of most of the major styles of Getz’s career: the melodic balladry, the Latin rhythms of his bossa nova days, even hints of the big band sound. He departed from the acoustic quartet format he had been using for the last several years in order to improvise over the synthesizer compositions of Eddie de Barrio. The album was received enthusiastically by jazz fans, reaching the top of the jazz charts. Although critics claimed that the album as a whole did not compete with his best, his improvised solos achieve the lyrical beauty, emotional depth, and spontaneity one would expect from a musician whose work has been enjoyed and admired for half a century.
Selected discography The Soft Swing, Verve, 1957.(With J. J. Johnson) At the Opera House, Verve, 1957.(With Bob Brookmeyer) Stan Getz and Bob Brookmeyer,Verve, 1961. Focus, Verve, 1962. Jazz Samba (includes "Desafinado" and "Samba de Una Nota So"), Verve, 1962.Big Band Bossa Nova, Verve, 1962.Jazz Samba Encore, Verve, 1963.Getz/Gilberto (includes "The Girl from Ipanema") Verve, 1964.Au Go Go, Verve, 1964.Getz/Gilberto No. 2, Verve, 1966.Sweet Rain, Verve, 1967.What the World Needs Now, Verve, 1968.Didn’t We, Verve, 1969.Dynasty, Verve, 1971.Newport in New York 72, Cobble, 1972.Captain Marvel, Columbia, 1975.Another World, Columbia.Pure Getz, Concord Jazz.Classics: Stan Getz, Prestige.The Stockholm Concert, Gazell, 1983.Anniversary, EmArcy, 1987, reissued, Verve, 1993.Apasionado, A & M, 1989.The Complete Recordings of The Stan Getz Quintet with Jimmy Raney, Mosaic, 1991.Stan Getz and Zoot Sims, LRC, 1992.Spring Is Here, Concord Jazz, 1992.(With Kenny Barron) People Time, Verve, 1992.Essential, Polygram, 1992.Best of the Verve Years, Vol. Ill, Verve, 1993.Opus De Bop, Savoy, reissued, 1993.The Artistry of Stan Getz Vol. II, Verve, 1993.Jazz Masters 8, Verve, 1994.
Sources Books Feather, Leonard, The Encyclopedia of Jazz in the Sixties, Horizon Press, 1966. Feather, Leonard, and Ira Gitler, The Encyclopedia of Jazz in the Seventies, Horizon Press, 1976. Lyons, Len, and Don Perlo, Jazz Portraits: The Lives and Music of the Jazz Masters, Morrow, 1989.
Periodicals Down Beat, June 1990; July 1990; January 1991; September 1991. New York Times Magazine, June 9, 1991. Rolling Stone, August 8, 1991.
One of the all-time great tenor saxophonists, Stan Getz was known as "The Sound" because he had one of the most beautiful tones ever heard. Getz, whose main early influence was Lester Young, grew to be a major influence himself and to his credit he never stopped evolving.
Getz had the opportunity to play in a variety of major swing big bands while a teenager due to the World War II draft. He was with Jack Teagarden (1943) when he was just 16, followed by stints with Stan Kenton (1944-1945), Jimmy Dorsey (1945), and Benny Goodman (1945-1946); he soloed on a few records with Goodman. Getz, who had his recording debut as a leader in July 1946 with four titles, became famous during his period with Woody Herman's Second Herd (1947-1949), soloing (along with Zoot Sims, Herbie Steward, and Serge Chaloff) on the original version of "Four Brothers" and having his sound well-featured on the ballad "Early Autumn." After leaving Herman, Getz was (with the exception of some tours with Jazz at the Philharmonic) a leader for the rest of his life.
During the early '50s, Getz broke away from the Lester Young style to form his own musical identity and he was soon among the most popular of all jazzmen. He discovered Horace Silver in 1950 and used him in his quartet for several months. After touring Sweden in 1951, he formed an exciting quintet that co-featured guitarist Jimmy Raney; their interplay on uptempo tunes and tonal blend on ballads were quite memorable. Getz's playing helped Johnny Smith have a hit in "Moonlight in Vermont"; during 1953-1954, Bob Brookmeyer made his group a quintet and, despite some drug problems during the decade, Getz was a constant poll winner. After spending 1958-1960 in Europe, the tenorman returned to the U.S. and recorded his personal favorite album, Focus, with arranger Eddie Sauter's Orchestra. Then, in February 1962, Getz helped usher in the bossa nova era by recording Jazz Samba with Charlie Byrd; their rendition of "Desafinado" was a big hit. During the next year, Getz made bossa nova-flavored albums with Gary McFarland's big band, Luiz Bonfá, and Laurindo Almeida, but it was Getz/Gilberto (a collaboration with Antonio Carlos Jobim and João Gilberto) that was his biggest seller, thanks in large part to "The Girl from Ipanema" (featuring the vocals of Astrud and João Gilberto).
Getz could have spent the next decade sticking to bossa nova, but instead he de-emphasized the music and chose to play more challenging jazz. His regular group during this era was a piano-less quartet with vibraphonist Gary Burton, he recorded with Bill Evans (1964), played throughout the 1965 Eddie Sauter soundtrack for Mickey One, and made the classic album Sweet Rain (1967) with Chick Corea. Although not all of Getz's recordings from the 1966-1980 period are essential, he proved that he was not afraid to take chances. Dynasty with organist Eddie Louiss (1971), Captain Marvel with Chick Corea (1972), and The Peacocks with Jimmy Rowles (1975) are high points. After utilizing pianist Joanne Brackeen in his 1977 quartet, Getz explored some aspects of fusion with his next unit which featured keyboardist Andy Laverne. Getz even used an Echoplex on a couple of songs but, despite some misfires, most of his dates with this unit are worthwhile. However, purists were relieved when he signed with Concord in 1981 and started using a purely acoustic backup trio on most dates. Getz's sidemen in later years included pianists Lou Levy, Mitchell Forman, Jim McNeely, and Kenny Barron. His final recording, 1991's People Time, (despite some shortness in the tenor's breath) is a brilliant duet set with Barron.
Throughout his career Getz recorded as a leader for Savoy, Spotlite, Prestige, Roost, Verve, MGM, Victor, Columbia, SteepleChase, Concord, Sonet, Black Hawk, A&M, and EmArcy among other labels (not to mention sessions with Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie, and Gerry Mulligan) and there are dozens of worthy records by the tenor currently available on CD. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi
Stanley Getz (February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazzsaxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young.[1] Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott Yanow[2] as "one of the all-time great tenor saxophonists". Getz went on to perform in bebop, cool jazz and third stream, but is perhaps best known for popularizing bossa nova, as in the worldwide hit single "The Girl from Ipanema" (1964).
Getz was born on February 2, 1927, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents were Ukrainian Jews who emigrated from the Kiev area in 1903. The family later moved to New York City for better employment opportunities. Getz worked hard in school, receiving straight As, and finished sixth grade close to the top of his class. Getz's major interest was in musical instruments, and he felt a need to play every instrument in sight. He played a number of them before his father bought him his first saxophone at the age of 13. Even though his father also got him a clarinet, Getz instantly fell in love with the saxophone and began practicing eight hours a day.
He attended James Monroe High School (New York) in the Bronx. In 1941, he was accepted into the All City High School Orchestra of New York City. This gave him a chance to receive private, free tutoring from the New York Philharmonic's Simon Kovar, a bassoon player. He also continued playing the saxophone. On early recordings he had used a White Plastic Brilhart Tonalin mouthpiece. He eventually dropped out of school in order to pursue his musical career, but was later sent back to the classroom by the school system's truancy officers.[1]
In 1943 at the age of 16,[3] he was accepted into Jack Teagarden's band, and because of his youth he became Teagarden's ward. Getz also played along with Nat King Cole and Lionel Hampton. After playing for Stan Kenton, Jimmy Dorsey, and Benny Goodman, Getz was a soloist with Woody Herman from 1947 to 1949 in 'The Second Herd', and he first gained wide attention as one of the band's saxophonists, who were known collectively as 'The Four Brothers', the others being Serge Chaloff, Zoot Sims and Herbie Steward.[3] With Herman, he had a hit with "Early Autumn" and after Getz left 'The Second Herd' he was able to launch his solo career. He would be the leader on almost all of his recording sessions after 1950.
Returning to the U.S. from Europe in 1961, Getz became a central figure in introducing bossa nova music to the American audience. Teaming with guitarist Charlie Byrd, who had just returned from a U.S. State Department tour of Brazil, Getz recorded Jazz Samba in 1962 and it became a hit. The title track was an adaptation of Antonio Carlos Jobim's "One Note Samba". Getz won the Grammy for Best Jazz Performance of 1963 for "Desafinado", from the same album. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.[4] As a follow-up, Getz recorded the album, Jazz Samba Encore!, with one of the originators of bossa nova, Brazilian guitarist Luiz Bonfá. It also sold more than a million copies by 1964, giving Getz his second gold disc.[4]
He then recorded the album Getz/Gilberto, in 1963,[5] with Tom Jobim, João Gilberto and his wife, Astrud Gilberto. Their "The Girl from Ipanema" won a Grammy Award. The piece became one of the most well-known latin jazz tracks. Getz/Gilberto won two Grammys (Best Album and Best Single). A live album, Getz/Gilberto Vol. 2, followed, as did Getz Au Go Go, a live recording at the Cafe Au Go Go. Getz's affair with Astrud Gilberto brought an end to his musical partnership with her and her husband, and he began to move away from bossa nova and back to cool jazz. While still working with the Gilbertos, he recorded the jazz album Nobody Else But Me, with a new quartet including vibraphonistGary Burton, but Verve Records, wishing to continue building the Getz brand with bossa nova, refused to release it. It eventually came out 30 years later, after Getz had died.
In the mid-1980s Getz worked regularly in the San Francisco Bay area and taught at Stanford University as an artist-in-residence at the Stanford Jazz Workshop until 1988.[6] In 1986, he was inducted into the Down BeatJazz Hall of Fame. During 1988, Getz worked with Huey Lewis and the News on their Small World album. He played the extended solo on the title track, which became a minor hit single.
Getz married Beverly Byrne, a vocalist with the Gene Krupa band, on November 7, 1946; they had three children together.
Getz became involved with drugs and alcohol while a teenager. In 1954, he was arrested for attempting to rob a pharmacy to get a morphine fix. As he was being processed in the prison ward of Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, Beverly gave birth to their third child one floor below. Getz tried to escape his narcotics addiction by moving to Copenhagen. He married Swedisharistocrat Monica Silfverskiöld on November 3, 1956, and had two children with her: Pamela and Nicolas. Getz divorced Monica in 1987.
Zoot Sims, who had known Getz since their time with Herman, once described him as 'a nice bunch of guys', as a consequence of the wide behavioural range of which Getz was capable. Getz died of liver cancer in June 6, 1991. His body was cremated and the ashes scattered at sea, off the coast of Malibu, California.
In 1998, the 'Stan Getz Media Center and Library' at Berklee College of Music was dedicated through a donation from the Herb Alpert Foundation.
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