GETZ, STAN

GETZ, STAN (1927–1991), U.S. tenor saxophonist. Getz was one of those rare figures in jazz who manages to achieve huge commercial successes without compromising considerable artistic abilities. Like his first major influence, Lester Young, he had a light yet huge sound and a natural sense of swing. He was one of jazz's great ballad players and a superb melodist. Of the latter skill he once said, "The saxophone is actually a translation of the human voice, in my conception. All you can do is play melody. No matter how complicated it gets, it's still a melody." Born in Philadelphia but raised in the Bronx, Getz manifested his musical skills early, playing bass in junior high school and bassoon in high school, where he was selected for the all-city orchestra. He recalled, "I was a withdrawn, hypersensitive kid.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 alleyways would yell, 'Shut that kid up,' and my mother would say, 'Play louder Stanley, play louder.'" He turned down a possible scholarship to Juilliard at age 15 to go on the road with the Jack Teagarden band. Shortly after, he moved to Los Angeles, where he quickly found work in the Stan Kenton Orchestra, but he quit when Kenton made disparaging remarks about Lester Young. He would not stay unemployed for long, working with benny goodman and Tommy Dorsey before he landed the job that first brought him stardom, as one of the "Four Brothers" sax section in the Woody Herman band known as the Second Herd. He quickly became one of the stars of this be-bop influenced band, with his solo on "Early Autumn" earning him major accolades. Regrettably, he also acquired a heroin habit that would plague him throughout the 1950s, leading him to a brief retirement and exile in Denmark in 1958–61. Getz came roaring back the following year with a series of Brazilian-influenced recordings that would bring his greatest commercial success, including a session with Joao and Astrud Gilberto that included "The Girl From Ipanema," one of the biggest-selling jazz singles of all time. He continued playing and recording steadily until his death from liver cancer at age 64. Elected to the Down Beat Hall of Fame in 1986 by the magazine's readers, Getz was also held in high esteem by his peers; John Coltrane, the most influential tenor player of the post-World War II era, said of him, "We would all like to play like Stan Getz, if we could." -BIBLIOGRAPHY: B. Case and S. Britt, "Stan Getz," in: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz (1978); D.L. Maggin, Stan Getz: A Life in Jazz (1996); B. Priestly (ed.), The Sax and Brass Book (1998); "Stan Getz," Down Beat Magazine archives at www.downbeat.com .; "Stan Getz," Music Web Encyclopaedia of Popular Music, at www.musicweb.uk.net . (George Robinson (2nd ed.)