Stan Getz

Born:

February 2, 1927, his family was originally from Ukraine.

Birthplace:

Philadelphia

Died:

June 6, 1991 in Malibu, California due to cancer.

Contribution to Jazz Music:

He was nicknamed "The Sound" due to his own unique, polished style. He is considered one of America's top tenor saxophone players.

Early Years:

At the age of 6, Getz was already interested in music instruments. At 12 he played the harmonica until his school's band director chose him to play the bass. It was then that he realized he had a rare gift. At 13, his father gave him an alto-sax, he became particularly interested in the tenor sax. In his teen years he received training by playing in Jack Teagarden's bands. In 1944 he joined Stan Kenton's band and played with Jimmy Dorsey in 1945. He then played with Benny Goodman until 1946.

Becoming Famous:

His popularity rose when he became part of Woody Herman's Second Herd. He was one of the original members of "The Four Brothers" sax section. With the recording of "Early Autumn" while playing with the Woody Herman Band, his popularity continued to rise. He worked with different talented musicians and in 1961 helped make bossa nova more popular. Bossa nova is a mix of jazz and samba.

Notable Performances:

With his quartet, he recorded "The Girl From Ipanema" which topped the charts in 1964. During the 70's he continued to play in Europe and after that at the Rainbow Grill in the U.S.

Personal Struggles:

He was incarcerated for drugs in 1954. He tried to fight his addiction by moving to Denmark in 1958. He once again had problems with the law due to drug use in 1969. He moved to Spain and stopped performing until 1971 when he began playing with an organ band in Europe.

Final Years:

Getz did a lot of recording during the 80's and it is said that he recorded more than 300 pieces until the time of his death.

Music Samples:

Listen to it at Yahoo Music