Stan Getz

Stan Getz- I’ll Remember April

Stan Getz lived from February 2, 1927 - June 6, 1991

Lester Young influenced the shaping of the delicate and mellow sound of Stan Getz. He started saxophone at the age of 13 and played with Stan Kenton in 1944, Jimmy Dorsey in 1945, Benny Goodman from 1945-1946 and went on to lead his own recording sessions after 1950.

In the 1950s he played “Cool Jazz” with Horace Silver, Johnny Smith, Oscar Peterson, and others. His early quintets took musicians from Charlie Parker’s groups and included Roy Haynes on drums, Al Haig on piano and Tommy Potter on bass. But then in 1958 he went to Copenhagen, Denmark as part of his efforts to end his narcotics habit. He returned to America in 1961 after traveling to Brazil. In 1963 he won the Grammy for Best Jazz Performance of 1963 on “Desafinado.” Getz collaborated with JoÃo Gilberto and his wife, Astrud Gilberto. “The Girl from Ipanema” went on to win a Grammy Award and become one of the most popular latin jazz pieces ever. “Getz/Gilberto” won two Grammys (Best Album and Best Single), outperforming The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night.

Quotes regarding Stan Getz

“Flawless technique, perfect time, strong melodic sense and more than enough harmonic expertise, fabulous memory, and great ears. Add a superb sense of dynamics, pacing, and format. Top this off with a sound of pure gold and you have Stan Getz”.
- pianist Lou Levy

“Let’s face it. We [tenor saxophonists] would all play like him, if we could.”
-John Coltrane