Genres: Jazz, 1950s
Stan Getz is considered one of the greatest tenor saxophone players of all time. Born to Ukrainian-Jewish parents and raised in New York City, Getz played a number of instruments before his father bought him his first saxophone at the age of 13. In 1943, he was accepted into Jack Teagarden's band, playing along with Nat King Cole and Lionel Hampton. After playing for Stan Kenton, Jimmy Dorsey, and Benny Goodman, Getz became a soloist with Woody Herman from 1947– 1949. With few exceptions, Getz would be a leader on all of his recording sessions after 1950.
Known as “The Sound” because of his warm, lyrical tone, Getz scored his biggest hits in the early 1960’s -- his bossa nova period. Getz's version of “Desafinado” from the album Jazz Samba with Charlie Byrd was a huge hit, but it was his collaboration with Joao Gilberto on the Grammy Award-winning album Getz/Gilberto that was his biggest seller, mainly because of the song “The Girl from Ipanema,” featuring the vocals of Astrud Gilberto, which was an international hit. Very soon after this Latin period, Getz changed direction and decided to play more challenging Jazz, including notable collaborations with Bill Evans, Elvin Jones and Chick Corea. Getz resurfaced in the 1980s, experimenting with fusion and “electric jazz”. He returned to acoustic jazz in his final years: his final recording People Time is a brilliant duet set with pianist Kenny Barron. Stan Getz died in 1991.
Songs (click on song title for more information):
