Stan Getz

Stanley Getz February 2 1927 June 6 1991 was an American jazz saxophonist Playing primarily the tenor saxophone Getz was known as The Sound because of his warm lyrical tone with his prime influence being the wispy mellow timbre of his idol Lester Young Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Hermans big band Getz is described by critic Scott Yanow as one of the alltime great tenor saxophonists Getz performed in bebop and cool jazz groups Influenced by João Gilberto and Antônio Carlos Jobim he also helped popularize bossa nova in the United States with the hit 1964 single The Girl from Ipanema Stan Getz was born on February 2 1927 at St Vincents Hospital in Philadelphia Pennsylvania United States Getzs father Alexander Al was born in Mile End London in 1904 while his mother Goldie née Yampolsky was born in Philadelphia in 1907 His paternal grandparents Harris and Beckie Gayetski were originally from the Kyiv area of Ukraine but had migrated to escape the antiJewish pogroms to Whitechapel in the East End of London While in England they owned the Harris Tailor Shop at 52 Oxford Street for more than 13 years In 1913 Harris and Beckie emigrated to the United States with their three sons Al Phil and Ben following their son Louis Gayetski who had emigrated to the US the year before Getzs original family name Gayetski was changed to Getz upon arrival in America The Getz family first settled in Philadelphia but during the Great Depression the family moved to New York City seeking better employment opportunities Getz worked hard in school receiving straight As and finished sixth grade close to the top of his class Getzs major interest was in musical instruments and he played a number of them before his father bought him his first saxophone when he was 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 Getz attended James Monroe High School in the Bronx In 1941 he was accepted into the AllCity High School Orchestra of New York City This gave him a chance to receive private free tutoring from the New York Philharmonics Simon Kovar a bassoon player He also continued playing the saxophone He eventually dropped out of school in order to pursue his musical career but was later sent back to the classroom by the school systems truancy officers In 1943 at the age of 16 he joined Jack Teagardens band and because of his youth he became Teagardens ward Getz also played along with Nat King Cole and Lionel Hampton A period based in Los Angeles with Stan Kenton was brief Following a comment from Kenton that his main influence Lester Young was too simple he quit After performing with 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 bands saxophonists who were known collectively as The Four Brothers the others being Serge Chaloff Zoot Sims and Herbie Steward With Herman he had a hit with Early Autumn in 1948 Source Article Stan Getz from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA 30