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Stan Getz (February 2 1927—June 6 1991), born Stanley Gayetzky, was a tenor saxophone player who first enjoyed stardom as a member of Woody Herman's Second Herd (often nicknamed The Four Brothers) from 1947 to 1949. Before joining Herman's orchestra, Getz had toured with Jack Teagarden and worked in the bands of Stan Kenton, Jimmy Dorsey and Benny Goodman.

Getz is probably best known for his work on 1963's Getz/Gilberto, a bossa nova album that included Joao Gilberto, Astrud Gilberto and Tom Jobim. The recording, which includes songs like 'Desafinado' and 'The Girl from Ipanema', is "among the most famous jazz albums ever." Already established as a bossa nova player by collaborating with Charlie Byrd on the album Jazz Samba, Getz went on to record several other bossa nova albums before interest in such recordings died down in the late 1960s.

Early life
Stan was born on February 2, 1927 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Al and Goldie Gayetsky. As a child he was spoiled by his mother and his family lived in Philadelphia's poorest district known as the Meadows. At age six he and his family moved to the Bronx in New York, where at age ten he had his first taste of musical performance when Borrah Minevich and His Harmonica Rascals visited his school to put on a show. The next day a woman from the Vaudeville group sold Getz a harmonica for fifty cents, on which he learned to play Silent Night and I'm an Old Cowhand from the Rio Grande that summer. The next instrument he played was the bass fiddle, which he learned to play at age twelve. Though he disliked the instrument, it became apparent to others that Stan was possessed an absolute pitch (often termed "perfect pitch"). Unbeknown to Stan was that his father would be foregoing eating lunch during breaks at work for the following year so that he could purchase for his son an alto saxophone. Getz received the moldy instrument on his 13th birthday and began taking lessons immediately. The instructor had several types of saxophones for his students to perform on, and Stan took a particular liking to the tenor saxophone (an instrument he longed to acquire someday). While learning to play saxophone, he quickly learned to play the clarinet and bassoon, as well.

Getz joined his high school orchestra at age fourteen, playing the bassoon on a borrowed instrument from his school. Demonstrating such a talent for his craft, by that following year he became a member of the All-City High School Orchestra—receiving private lessons from Simon Kovar on the side. Stan also began performing at local weddings and celebrations at this time, charging three dollars per gig. This didn't just help to pay the family bills, it also enabled him to eventually purchase that tenor saxophone he had been dreaming of. Due to his ability to hear a tune only one or two times before being able to render it and mimic popular saxophonists of his day, he was hired by Dick 'Stinky' Rogers in December 1942 with a wage of thirty-five dollars a week (more money than his father earned). He joined the American Federation of Musicians in mid-January that following year, but was soon tracked down by a truancy officer and forced to quit the gig.

Career
Actively searching for new employment opportunities, Getz got his break in 1943 while at a Jack Teagarden orchestra rehearsal in Manhattan with a friend (who played alto saxophone in the orchestra). Teagarden's usual tenor saxophonist had not showed up that day, so Getz sat in with the band and got the job. That next day he traveled to Boston, Massachusetts with the orchestra and performed with them. He received a wage of seventy dollars per week, and Teagarden became his legal guardian weeks later when authorities tracked Stan down—the guardianship was part of an agreement that allowed Getz to remain a member of the orchestra. The group toured the United States for the remainder of 1943, with Stan possibly making his first recording that year at Blyth Air Force Base in California on the Armed Forces Radio Service in for their Spotlight Bands series. Teagarden soon became ill and disbanded the orchestra for a few weeks as he recovered at his home in Los Angeles. After this Teagarden assembled a new orchestra comprised of local musicians as well as Getz and other members who had stayed behind, but Teagarden was not well enough to tour and confined his performances to radio appearances. In February 1944, Stan Getz left Teagarden's orchestra and carried with him a lifelong affection for the man.

1944 to 1946 he performs with the bands of these men (Stan Kenton, Jimmy Dorsey and Benny Goodman).

The Four Brothers
During the summer of 1947, Woody Herman was looking to start a new band, his Second Herd (this following the breakup of his First Heard in December 1946). Herman's talent scout at the time was Ralph Burns, who went to see Getz, Zoot Sims, Herbie Steward and Jimmy Giuffre perform one night in East Los Angeles, California. Impressed by their performance, Burns urged Herman to come see the four perform for himself, and Herman ended up hiring them only a few days later. Giuffre was hired on as a musical arranger, as Herman already had Serge Chaloff in line to play baritone saxophone. Other group members included Shorty Rogers, Bernie Glow and Ernie Royal on trumpet, Earl Swope on trombone, and Don Lamond on drums. The new band played its first gig on October 16, 1947 in San Bernadino, followed shortly after by extensive touring. Due to the looming threat of an impending union strike between the American Federation of Musicians and the record industry, Herman's new band came into the studio to put down two three hour sessions on December 27, 1947. One of the tracks recorded was a Jimmy Giuffre compisition titled Four Brothers.

Four Brothers showcased the talents of Sims, Chaloff, Steward, and Getz, going on to become a hit. The recording was so successful that Herman's band earned the nickname Four Brothers as a result. Author Dave Gelly writes:

'Four Brothers' is a brilliant, three-and-a-half-minute display of Woody Herman's new sound at its most irresistibly glamorous and seductive, a mini-concerto grosso in which the three tenors and baritone conduct a dialogue with the full orchestra. The theme itself is rather like a bebop line, but with less jagged contours, and the tonal blend is so close that they really do sound like brothers. The solos (Sims, Chaloff, Steward, Getz - in that order) flow gracefully from one to another, so that they seem to be picking up eachother's thoughts. Outside the work of Duke Ellington, 'Four Brothers' stands as one of the rare undisputed masterpieces of jazz composition.

Ralph Burns composed the ballad titled Early Autumn that helped turn Stan Getz into a star in 1948. According to the author Grover Sales, "The lush romantic ballad, Early Autumn, marked the meteoric debut of Stan Getz as the new tenor sax influence on younger musicians." Not long after forming, Herbie Steward left the band and was replaced by Al Cohn. Stan, and the entire band for that matter, really admired Al's technical abilities on saxophone. But Stan, though admired he was for his musical talents, did not garner the same sort of respect from his fellow bandmates. In fact, he was seen as young and obnoxious, filled with bravado. He even insulted the playing ability of Herman during his tenure. Burns himself has said, "Stan was a prick, but he could play." By 1949, the year that Herman's Second Herd broke up due to financial difficulties, other musicians such as Oscar Pettiford, Gene Ammons, Terry Gibbs and Shelley Manne had climbed on board.

"The Long Island Sound"
After his years with Woody Herman, Getz began recording with various other musicians on the Prestige Records label (some of these were not released until years later). One such recording is titled Early Stan, an album which includes seven sessions from 1949 to 1950 and one session from 1953. Featured are selections from his work with a septet led by Terry Gibbs, a sextet with Al Haig featuring Blossom Dearie, and a collaboration with Jimmy Raney. Another such album is The Brothers, a collaboration with former Herman bandmate Zoot Sims with a session from 1949 and a session from 1952. The 1949 session includes Al Cohn, Brew Moore, and Allen Eager. The 1952 session features a sextet co-led by Sims and Cohn, featuring trombonist Kai Winding, double-bassist Percy Heath and drummer Art Blakey. On this recording particularly one can hear the distinctively West Coast jazz sound Getz is often associated with. Quartets was released in 1950, with Getz accompanied by Al Haig or Tony Aless on piano, Percy Heath on double-bass, and Roy Haynes on drums. Prezervation features Getz and Al Haig, recorded in 1949 and 1950. The albums features such luminaries as Kai Winding, Jimmy Raney, Gene Ramey or Tommy Potter on double-bass, Roy Haynes or Stan Levey on drums; additionally, both Blossom Dearie and Junior Parker lendtheir vocals to some of these tracks.

In 1950 Getz performed in Hartford, Connecticut with Horace Silver's trio, folding them into his own quartet for that following year. In 1951 Getz toured Sweden, where he left an indelible mark on the players there. Upon returning he formed a quintet with Jimmy Raney on guitar, a musician he had a particularly nice chemistry with.

1961 Eddie Sauter & Stan Getz on the album focus. Film soundtrack collaborations for Mickey One (1965) and Tanglewood Concerto (1966).

Semi-retirement
He spent the years 1969 to 1972 in semi-retirement in Europe.

With Cal Tjader

 * 1959 Stan Getz with Cal Tjader for Fantasy Records

With Joanne Brackeen
Replaced by Andy LaVerne in 1977.

Awards
Won eleven Grammy awards.

Criticism
In a 2004 issue of Down Beat, saxophone player Joshua Redman said the following of Stan Getz: "He's one of the greatest lyric voices and melodists in jazz. He always sounds like he's singing a song. He's also one of the hardest-swinging saxophonists, and his time was amazing. He did a recording with the Oscar Peterson Trio without drums-it's Herb Ellis, Ray Brown and Oscar. You don't miss the drums for one millisecond. Part of his genius was his ability to bring his sound and presence to any musical context, and make it work and sound beautiful. More than anything, Stan's music is about natural, unforced, uncontrived beauty. Everything he played was beautiful."

According to vibraphone player Gary Burton, who worked with Getz,