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Stan Getz

Beginnings...

Stan Getz was born at St. Vincent's Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Feb. 2, 1927. He had one brother, Robert, who was born on October 30, 1932. His parents had come from the Kiev area in the Ukraine in 1903, tired and fearful of the Pogroms. The Getz family had first settled in West Philadelphia, but moved to New York City after Stan's fraternal uncle told them there were better jobs in New York. They lived first on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and then moved up to the East Bronx.

Stan's father had many jobs, but he wasn't aggressive by nature and was thus often unemployed. Stan's mother was a more demanding person and pushed her first son hard to study. She hoped he would become a doctor or a professor and took extra care of him, setting straight "A" standards for his schoolwork. Stan worked hard in school. During hot Bronx summers, Stan developed a love for swimming at Crotona Park. At this same park, he sold sunflower seeds in two-cent packets that he had purchased in bulk. Stan had his Bar Mitzvah in 1940. Neither Stan nor Robert had much spiritual grounding. Between them, they would have four wives and seven children, none of whom were raised Jewish.

Stan finished 6th grade near the top of his class and was accepted into an accelerated program where he would combine 7th and 8th grades into one academic year. He was attracted to musical instruments, and he pestered people until he could try whatever instrument came within his view. He was playing the harmonica by age 12 and bass in Jr. High School. Early indications off his innate talent became apparent with his ability to play new tunes he would hear- picking them out on the piano or his harmonica. He conducted a fantasy opera orchestra in front of the radio. He would hum all of the famous Benny Goodman clarinet solos from memory. As he studied music, he was instantly good at sight-reading and seemed to have a photographic memory, as well as an instinctive sense of pitch and rhythm.

On February 16, 1940, his Dad bought him a $35.00 alto saxophone. Stan was 13. He moved on quickly to play all of the saxophones, as well as the clarinet, but he really loved the sound of the tenor saxophone. "In my neighborhood my choice was: be a bum or escape. So I became a music kid, practicing eight hours a day. I was a withdrawn, hypersensitive kid. I would practice the saxophone in the bathroom, and the tenements were so close together that someone from across the alleyway would yell, 'Shut that kid up', and my mother would shout back, 'Play louder, Stanley, play louder'." He mooched quarters off of his Mom so that he could take saxophone lessons every week from an excellent local teacher named Bill Sheiner. He even took up playing bassoon in the school band.

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15
Album Review

Various Artists: The Birth of Bop

Read "The Birth of Bop" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci


Someone famously called jazz the sound of surprise, but all too often, what is on offer is the dull hum of routine. Or something like that. This historic reissue is, however, anything but routine. This is not the first time that Teddy Reig's Savoy sides have been reissued (was he also the mysterious Buck Ram listed as producing one track?), but Craft Recordings took a lot of trouble to produce this very fine selection. If a listener were, ...

2
Radio & Podcasts

Saxophonists, Classic and Contemporary

Read "Saxophonists, Classic and Contemporary" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


This show features a wide variety of saxophonists, both as soloists and bandleaders. It includes iconic players like Stan Getz and Roscoe Mitchell as well as today's stars with Melissa Aldana and Miguel Zenon. Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) 00:00 Art Pepper “Blues In" from Modern Art (Blue Note) 1:00 Lee Konitz “I'll Remember April" from Seven Classic Albums ...

7
Radio & Podcasts

Jazz and Bossa Nova - Gilberto, Jobim, Bonfa, Getz (1958 - 1963)

Read "Jazz and Bossa Nova - Gilberto, Jobim, Bonfa, Getz (1958 - 1963)" reviewed by Russell Perry


Fueled by the 1959 international release of the movie “Black Orpheus" and through reports from US jazz players returning from South American tours, the Brazilian music bossa nova (Portugese for “new trend" or “new wave") found its way into American jazz in the early 1960s, becoming a permanent part of the jazz fusion. Stan Getz, in particular, appreciated bossa nova as the interaction between cool jazz and samba and collaborated successfully with many of the pioneers of the new music, ...

17
Album Review

Stan Getz: Getz At The Gate

Read "Getz At The Gate" reviewed by Chris May


Connoisseurs of Stan Getz continue to get lucky with newly discovered live recordings. The last was Moments In Time (Resonance, 2016), a single CD documenting parts of a week-long residency with a quartet including pianist JoAnne Brackeen in San Francisco in 1976. Getz At The Gate, recorded fifteen years earlier, is another substantial addition to Getz's catalogue. Over two CDs, or three LPs if you prefer, it includes all 139 minutes which Getz's band performed at New York's ...

3
Radio & Podcasts

Cool - Four Brothers After Woody Herman (1946 - 1961)

Read "Cool - Four Brothers After Woody Herman  (1946 - 1961)" reviewed by Russell Perry


Bandleader Woody Herman created a distinctive sound around The Four Brothers -the three tenor plus baritone sax front line of Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Herbie Stewart (later Al Cohn) and Serge Chaloff--and the writing of clarinetist Jimmy Giuffre. In time, Getz, Sims, Chaloff, Cohn and Giuffre would all become distinctive soloists and all had a role in defining West Coast Jazz in the 1950s. Playlist Host Intro 0:00 Stan Getz Quartet. “Opus De Bop" from Bebop Story: Vol. ...

11
Getting Into Jazz

Stan Getz And The Oscar Peterson Trio

Read "Stan Getz And The Oscar Peterson Trio" reviewed by Mark Barnett


Getting Started If you're new to jazz, go to our Getting Into Jazz primer for some hints on how to listen. CD Capsule Saxophonist Stan Getz shines in this disc, recorded early in his career with top-flight musicians who created a perfect setting for his skills and sensitivity. Give him an “A" in “Plays well with others." Background Like Zoot Sims (see If I'm Lucky in this “Getting Into Jazz" ...

24
Building a Jazz Library

Stan Getz

Read "Stan Getz" reviewed by Mark Barnett


The story of Stan Getz (1927-1991) has to begin with Lester Young. Before Young, tenor sax players seemed awash in testosterone. Their sound was full, rich, deep, blown hard out of the instrument's lower registers, with emotion pouring out in lavish swoops and honks. Then along came Lester. In the post-war 1940s, he invented a new way to play the tenor sax: softly, effortlessly, with no wasted notes, and above all, without drama. There was emotion, of course, but it ...

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1

Music Industry

Impex's Getz/Gilberto; Plus a Chat With Abey Fonn

Impex's Getz/Gilberto; Plus a Chat With Abey Fonn

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

This month marks the 60th anniversary of Getz/Gilberto's release by Verve Records. The revolutionary bossa nova album recorded in 1963 and produced by Creed Taylor—with the inclusion of Astrud Gilberto singing The Girl From Ipanema and Corcovado—turned the infectious Brazilian beat into a global phenomenon with the young-adult market. In America, the Beatles and other British Invasion artists by then owned the teen market, and Al Hirt, Percy Faith, Ray Conniff and other easy-listening artists owned the more senior market. ...

2

TV / Film

Stella Stevens: Too Late Blues

Stella Stevens: Too Late Blues

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Stella Stevens, who died last week at age 84, was all set to be a serious movie star in the early 1960s when the youth culture cut in. As a beach-blanket blonde, she wound up cast in many cute films aimed at the teenage market along with Westerns and secret agent movies. Her most recognizable role during this period was in The Poseidon Adventure in 1972. From there, TV took over, as she played characters in episodes on nearly all ...

1

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Stan Getz

Jazz Musician of the Day: Stan Getz

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Stan Getz's birthday today!

Beginnings... Stan Getz was born at St. Vincent's Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Feb. 2, 1927. He had one brother, Robert, who was born on October 30, 1932. His parents had come from the Kiev area in the Ukraine in 1903, tired and fearful of the Pogroms. The Getz family had first settled in West Philadelphia, but moved to New York City after Stan's fraternal uncle told them there were better ...

1

Video / DVD

Eight New Stan Getz Video Clips

Eight New Stan Getz Video Clips

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

When Stan Getz plays his tenor saxophone, he awakens in you the same feeling of relaxation you get from a tropical breeze or a hot shower. His high, smooth tone instantly soothes your soul and clears your head. A stark and forever-puzzling contrast with Getz's erratic and sometimes cruel personality that left most musicians and singers shocked and disgusted. It's hard to understand how the two personalities could exist in one artist, but they did. [Photo above of Stan Getz, ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Stan Getz

Jazz Musician of the Day: Stan Getz

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Stan Getz's birthday today!

Beginnings... Stan Getz was born at St. Vincent's Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Feb. 2, 1927. He had one brother, Robert, who was born on October 30, 1932. His parents had come from the Kiev area in the Ukraine in 1903, tired and fearful of the Pogroms. The Getz family had first settled in West Philadelphia, but moved to New York City after Stan's fraternal uncle told them there were better ...

TV / Film

Documentary: Stan Getz

Documentary: Stan Getz

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

In 1993, Jean-Pierre Larcher released his documentary of Stan Getz called People Time. Issued two years after Getz's death, the film was named for the tenor saxophonist's final album, a duet recording with pianist Kenny Barron. Today, the documentary is hard to come by. I found it in parts at the site of the Stan Getz Community. Getz is important because he not only pioneered a distinctly light and fluid sound on the instrument by leveraging Lester Young's approach but ...

Recording

Getz Meets Mulligan in Hi-Fi

Getz Meets Mulligan in Hi-Fi

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

There's a cross-dressing quality about the first three tracks on Getz Meets Mulligan in Hi-Fi. You hear the baritone and tenor saxophones but things seem a little inside out. The baritone has Stan Getz's mildness and the tenor sounds more like Mulligan's bouncing attack. In fact, Verve producer Norman Granz recorded just such a switch, which at first might seem pointless but it kind of grows on you. Getz plays the baritone saxophone and Mulligan plays the tenor on the ...

1

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Stan Getz

Jazz Musician of the Day: Stan Getz

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Stan Getz's birthday today!

Beginnings... Stan Getz was born at St. Vincent's Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Feb. 2, 1927. He had one brother, Robert, who was born on October 30, 1932. His parents had come from the Kiev area in the Ukraine in 1903, tired and fearful of the Pogroms. The Getz family had first settled in West Philadelphia, but moved to New York City after Stan's fraternal uncle told them there were better ...

2

Recording

Duke Jordan: Stan Getz Plays

Duke Jordan: Stan Getz Plays

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

On December 12 and 29, 1952, tenor saxophonist Stan Getz took his working quintet into a studio in New York to record two 10-inch LPs for Norman Granz's Clef Records. They would be named Stan Getz Plays and The Artistry of Stan Getz. On piano was Duke Jordan, with Jimmy Raney on guitar, Bill Crow on bass and Frank Isola on drums. On the 12th, the quintet recorded Stella By Starlight, Time on My Hands, 'Tis Autumn, The Way You ...

TV / Film

Stan Getz: The Movies and TV

Stan Getz: The Movies and TV

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

By the mid-1950s, tenor saxophonist Stan Getz had become a sensation as a soloist and started to be featured in films. A few years later, Getz's horn could be heard in European films and then American films upon his return to the U.S. in 1960. From the 1960s until his death in 1991, Getz was heard regularly on TV shows such as Ironside and The Courtship of Eddie's Father as well as in movies. Here are 13 clips of Getz ...

Noah Peterson
saxophone
Lynda Murray
saxophone, alto
Dave Wilson
saxophone
Rent Romus
saxophone, alto
Tommy Smith
saxophone, tenor
Glenn Zottola
saxophone, tenor
Grace Kelly
saxophone
Fred Haas
saxophone
Mirko Fait
saxophone, tenor
David Jones
saxophone
Ava Lemert
saxophone
Steve Griggs
saxophone
Ryan Anselmi
saxophone, tenor
Iman Spaargaren
saxophone, tenor
Johnny Padilla
saxophone
ctraltu
trumpet
Dave Quick
synthesizer
Roy Futaba
saxophone, tenor
Earle Eidenire
saxophone, tenor
Andy Brown
guitar
Katy Jungmann
saxophone
Wesley Crispus
saxophone
Jon Bentley
saxophone, tenor
Milo Lombardi
saxophone
Carl Cornwell
saxophone, tenor
Ed Harlow
saxophone
Matthew Ottignon
saxophone, tenor
David Larsen
saxophone, baritone
Yuto Mitomi
saxophone, tenor
Bill Hauser
saxophone, tenor
Mark R DeJong
saxophone
Claudio Rubio
saxophone, tenor
Jérôme Masco
saxophone
Dave Coules
saxophone
Andres Hayes
saxophone, tenor
Al Ross and The Planets
band / ensemble / orchestra
Tibor Debreceni
guitar, electric
Kyle James
saxophone, alto
Stratøs
saxophone, tenor
Russ Strathdee
saxophone
Egor Tokarev
saxophone, tenor
Gus Leighton
saxophone

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

The Birth of Bop

Craft Recordings
2023

buy

Getz/Gilberto '76

Resonance Records
2016

buy

Stan Getz At Nalen...

Point Entertainment
2011

buy

The Cool Sound Of...

Point Entertainment
2011

buy

Videos

Similar

Charlie Parker
saxophone, alto
Dexter Gordon
saxophone, tenor
Coleman Hawkins
saxophone, tenor
Paul Desmond
saxophone, alto
Gerry Mulligan
saxophone, baritone

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