Stan Getz
Dutch collector card, no. 33.
Stan Getz (1927-1991) was an American Jazz saxophonist. He was known as 'The Sound' because of his warm, lyrical tone. In the late 1940s, he had his breakthrough with Woody Herman's big band. Getz performed in Bebop and Cool Jazz groups and helped popularise Bossa Nova in the United States with the hit 'The Girl from Ipanema' (1964).
Stan Getz was born Stanley Gayetski in 1927, at St. Vincent's Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents were Alexander ('Al') Gayetski and Goldie Gayetski (née Yampolsky). Getz's original family name, 'Gayetski', was changed in America. During the Great Depression, the Getz family moved to New York City, seeking better employment opportunities. Getz worked hard in school, but his major interest was in musical instruments. His father bought him his first saxophone, a $35 alto saxophone, when he was thirteen. He moved on quickly to play all other saxophones, as well as the clarinet, but fell in love with the sound of the tenor saxophone. He began practising eight hours a day while studying with Bill Shiner, a well-known saxophone teacher in the Bronx. Getz attended James Monroe High School in the Bronx. In 1941, he was accepted into the All-City High School Orchestra of New York City. This gave him a chance to receive private, free tutoring from the New York Philharmonic's Simon Kovar, a bassoon player. He also continued playing the saxophone at dances and bar mitzvahs. He eventually dropped out of school to pursue his musical career, but was later sent back to the classroom by the school system's truancy officers. In 1943, the 16-year-old Getz joined Jack Teagarden's band. Stan 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, Getz quit. After performing with Jimmy Dorsey and Benny Goodman, Getz was a soloist with Woody Herman from 1947 to 1949 in The Second Herd. They had a hit with 'Early Autumn' (1948).
After Stan Getz left The Second Herd, he was able to launch his solo career. In 1950, he was a guest soloist with Horace Silver's trio at the Club Sundown in Hartford, Connecticut. Getz subsequently hired them for touring gigs, gaining Silver his earliest national exposure. For an unknown period, he didn't pay Silver, using the money due the pianist to buy heroin. Silver finally left in 1952. In the same period, Getz performed with pianists Al Haig and Duke Jordan and drummers Roy Haynes and Max Roach, as well as bassist Tommy Potter, all of whom had worked with Charlie Parker. Guitarists Jimmy Raney and Johnny Smith were also associated with the saxophonist in this period. He enhanced his profile with his featured performance on Johnny Smith's big hit song 'Moonlight in Vermont' (1952). In 1952, Getz signed with Norman Granz for his labels Clef and Norgran Records, which would be consolidated into Verve Records by 1956. A December 1953 date with Dizzy Gillespie found Getz also in the company of Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown and Max Roach for 'Diz and Getz', released in 1955. Other notable Getz albums issued by Granz during this time include 'West Coast Jazz' (1955) and 'The Steamer' (1957). In 1958, Getz moved to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he performed at the Club Montmartre. In 1961, Stan Getz returned to The US and recorded the album 'Focus', now considered one of the masterpieces of mid-twentieth century jazz. Getz became involved in introducing Bossa Nova to American audiences when he teamed with guitarist Charlie Byrd, who had just returned from a tour of Brazil. In 1962, they recorded the album 'Jazz Samba' featuring their cover of Antonio Carlos Jobim's 'Desafinado', which sold more than one million copies. It won Getz the Grammy for Best Jazz Performance of 1963. His second Bossa Nova album was 'Big Band Bossa Nova' (1962). Getz recorded the album 'Jazz Samba Encore!' (1963), with one of the originators of Bossa Nova, Brazilian guitarist Luiz Bonfá. It also sold more than a million copies. He then recorded the album 'Getz/Gilberto' (1963), with João Gilberto, his wife Astrud, and Antônio Carlos Jobim. The hit single 'The Girl from Ipanema' (1964) won a Grammy Award. 'Getz/Gilberto' won the Grammy for Best Album. Getz and producer Creed Taylor claimed that the music's success was a result of their discovery of the talent of Astrud Gilberto, who had never recorded as a vocalist. She and Gilberto and later their son, Marcelo, disputed Getz and Taylor's version of the story, and alleged that Getz contrived it to deprive her of the royalties she was due. A live album, 'Getz/Gilberto Vol. 2', followed, as did 'Getz Au Go Go' (1964), a live recording at the Cafe au Go Go in New York City. While working with the Gilbertos, he recorded the jazz album 'Nobody Else But Me' (1964), with a new quartet including vibraphonist Gary Burton, but Verve Records, wishing to continue building the Getz brand with Bossa Nova, refused to release it until 30 years later, after Getz had died.
In 1972, Stan Getz recorded the jazz fusion album 'Captain Marvel' with Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Tony Williams, and in this period experimented with an Echoplex on his saxophone. He had a cameo in the film The Exterminator (James Glickenhaus, 1980). In the mid-1980s, Getz worked regularly in the San Francisco Bay area and taught at Stanford University as an artist-in-residence at the Stanford Jazz Workshop until 1988. During 1988, Getz worked with Huey Lewis and the News on their 'Small World' album. He played the extended solo on part 2 of the title track, which became a minor hit single. Getz married Beverly Byrne, a vocalist with the Gene Krupa band, in 1946. The couple had three children. In 1954, Getz held up a Seattle drugstore to obtain narcotics for his heroin addiction. After his arrest, he attempted to commit suicide by overdose. He suffered from drug and alcohol dependency on and off for decades. In 1983, he began attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings regularly. Getz divorced Byrne in Mexico in 1956, after which, due to Byrne's own addictions, she was unable to take care of the children. Eventually, the children were awarded by the Court to Getz's second wife, Monica Silfverskiöld, daughter of Swedish physician and former Olympic medalist Nils Silfverskiöld and Swedish Countess Mary von Rosen. Monica had insisted on raising the family together, as children had been divided among family members, and eventually they raised five children: Steven, David, and Beverley (children of Stan and Beverly); and Pamela and Nicolaus (children of Stan and Monica). The couple lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, partly to escape the prevalence of drugs in America at the time. Monica would also become Stan's manager and a major influence in his life. In 1962, Monica returned with the family to Sweden after having discovered Stan's recurring addictions. During the following period, as he was trying to persuade her to come back, he sent her two test pressings, one of which, 'Jazz Samba' with Charlie Byrd, was pivotal to her plans for the next record, 'Getz/Gilberto'. However, Getz's association with Byrd soured due to a lawsuit that Byrd initiated against the record company. After Getz promised to stay clean and sober, Monica returned from Sweden with the family. In 1962, Brazil sent scores of musicians to Carnegie Hall as a result of the Bossa Nova craze created by 'Jazz Samba'. After being told by Gilberto and Jobim that Getz had been an invisible partner in their creation of the Bossa Nova by superimposing Getz's jazz harmonies and sound on the old samba, Monica suggested a unification of the three. In the early 1980s, Getz again relapsed into his addictions, resulting in an arrest with an illegal gun in the home with Monica and some of the children. This resulted in an Order of Protection, issued in her favour, which contained a clause that Getz must be sober to be allowed into the house and an Order to go to treatment. As a countermove, Getz filed for divorce from Monica in 1981, but the couple reconciled at his insistence in 1982 and signed a Reconciliation Agreement in which they agreed to jointly buy a house they had found in San Francisco. Soon after, however, Getz relapsed. After a second illegal gun and cocaine incident, Monica returned to their New York home. At this time, she discovered the need for the courts to learn about addiction and founded the National Coalition for Family Justice in 1988. In 1987, Stan Getz was diagnosed with cancer. He died of liver cancer in 1991. His ashes were poured from his saxophone case six miles off the coast of Marina del Rey, California.
Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb,
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Stan Getz
Dutch collector card, no. 33.
Stan Getz (1927-1991) was an American Jazz saxophonist. He was known as 'The Sound' because of his warm, lyrical tone. In the late 1940s, he had his breakthrough with Woody Herman's big band. Getz performed in Bebop and Cool Jazz groups and helped popularise Bossa Nova in the United States with the hit 'The Girl from Ipanema' (1964).
Stan Getz was born Stanley Gayetski in 1927, at St. Vincent's Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents were Alexander ('Al') Gayetski and Goldie Gayetski (née Yampolsky). Getz's original family name, 'Gayetski', was changed in America. During the Great Depression, the Getz family moved to New York City, seeking better employment opportunities. Getz worked hard in school, but his major interest was in musical instruments. His father bought him his first saxophone, a $35 alto saxophone, when he was thirteen. He moved on quickly to play all other saxophones, as well as the clarinet, but fell in love with the sound of the tenor saxophone. He began practising eight hours a day while studying with Bill Shiner, a well-known saxophone teacher in the Bronx. Getz attended James Monroe High School in the Bronx. In 1941, he was accepted into the All-City High School Orchestra of New York City. This gave him a chance to receive private, free tutoring from the New York Philharmonic's Simon Kovar, a bassoon player. He also continued playing the saxophone at dances and bar mitzvahs. He eventually dropped out of school to pursue his musical career, but was later sent back to the classroom by the school system's truancy officers. In 1943, the 16-year-old Getz joined Jack Teagarden's band. Stan 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, Getz quit. After performing with Jimmy Dorsey and Benny Goodman, Getz was a soloist with Woody Herman from 1947 to 1949 in The Second Herd. They had a hit with 'Early Autumn' (1948).
After Stan Getz left The Second Herd, he was able to launch his solo career. In 1950, he was a guest soloist with Horace Silver's trio at the Club Sundown in Hartford, Connecticut. Getz subsequently hired them for touring gigs, gaining Silver his earliest national exposure. For an unknown period, he didn't pay Silver, using the money due the pianist to buy heroin. Silver finally left in 1952. In the same period, Getz performed with pianists Al Haig and Duke Jordan and drummers Roy Haynes and Max Roach, as well as bassist Tommy Potter, all of whom had worked with Charlie Parker. Guitarists Jimmy Raney and Johnny Smith were also associated with the saxophonist in this period. He enhanced his profile with his featured performance on Johnny Smith's big hit song 'Moonlight in Vermont' (1952). In 1952, Getz signed with Norman Granz for his labels Clef and Norgran Records, which would be consolidated into Verve Records by 1956. A December 1953 date with Dizzy Gillespie found Getz also in the company of Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown and Max Roach for 'Diz and Getz', released in 1955. Other notable Getz albums issued by Granz during this time include 'West Coast Jazz' (1955) and 'The Steamer' (1957). In 1958, Getz moved to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he performed at the Club Montmartre. In 1961, Stan Getz returned to The US and recorded the album 'Focus', now considered one of the masterpieces of mid-twentieth century jazz. Getz became involved in introducing Bossa Nova to American audiences when he teamed with guitarist Charlie Byrd, who had just returned from a tour of Brazil. In 1962, they recorded the album 'Jazz Samba' featuring their cover of Antonio Carlos Jobim's 'Desafinado', which sold more than one million copies. It won Getz the Grammy for Best Jazz Performance of 1963. His second Bossa Nova album was 'Big Band Bossa Nova' (1962). Getz recorded the album 'Jazz Samba Encore!' (1963), with one of the originators of Bossa Nova, Brazilian guitarist Luiz Bonfá. It also sold more than a million copies. He then recorded the album 'Getz/Gilberto' (1963), with João Gilberto, his wife Astrud, and Antônio Carlos Jobim. The hit single 'The Girl from Ipanema' (1964) won a Grammy Award. 'Getz/Gilberto' won the Grammy for Best Album. Getz and producer Creed Taylor claimed that the music's success was a result of their discovery of the talent of Astrud Gilberto, who had never recorded as a vocalist. She and Gilberto and later their son, Marcelo, disputed Getz and Taylor's version of the story, and alleged that Getz contrived it to deprive her of the royalties she was due. A live album, 'Getz/Gilberto Vol. 2', followed, as did 'Getz Au Go Go' (1964), a live recording at the Cafe au Go Go in New York City. While working with the Gilbertos, he recorded the jazz album 'Nobody Else But Me' (1964), with a new quartet including vibraphonist Gary Burton, but Verve Records, wishing to continue building the Getz brand with Bossa Nova, refused to release it until 30 years later, after Getz had died.
In 1972, Stan Getz recorded the jazz fusion album 'Captain Marvel' with Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Tony Williams, and in this period experimented with an Echoplex on his saxophone. He had a cameo in the film The Exterminator (James Glickenhaus, 1980). In the mid-1980s, Getz worked regularly in the San Francisco Bay area and taught at Stanford University as an artist-in-residence at the Stanford Jazz Workshop until 1988. During 1988, Getz worked with Huey Lewis and the News on their 'Small World' album. He played the extended solo on part 2 of the title track, which became a minor hit single. Getz married Beverly Byrne, a vocalist with the Gene Krupa band, in 1946. The couple had three children. In 1954, Getz held up a Seattle drugstore to obtain narcotics for his heroin addiction. After his arrest, he attempted to commit suicide by overdose. He suffered from drug and alcohol dependency on and off for decades. In 1983, he began attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings regularly. Getz divorced Byrne in Mexico in 1956, after which, due to Byrne's own addictions, she was unable to take care of the children. Eventually, the children were awarded by the Court to Getz's second wife, Monica Silfverskiöld, daughter of Swedish physician and former Olympic medalist Nils Silfverskiöld and Swedish Countess Mary von Rosen. Monica had insisted on raising the family together, as children had been divided among family members, and eventually they raised five children: Steven, David, and Beverley (children of Stan and Beverly); and Pamela and Nicolaus (children of Stan and Monica). The couple lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, partly to escape the prevalence of drugs in America at the time. Monica would also become Stan's manager and a major influence in his life. In 1962, Monica returned with the family to Sweden after having discovered Stan's recurring addictions. During the following period, as he was trying to persuade her to come back, he sent her two test pressings, one of which, 'Jazz Samba' with Charlie Byrd, was pivotal to her plans for the next record, 'Getz/Gilberto'. However, Getz's association with Byrd soured due to a lawsuit that Byrd initiated against the record company. After Getz promised to stay clean and sober, Monica returned from Sweden with the family. In 1962, Brazil sent scores of musicians to Carnegie Hall as a result of the Bossa Nova craze created by 'Jazz Samba'. After being told by Gilberto and Jobim that Getz had been an invisible partner in their creation of the Bossa Nova by superimposing Getz's jazz harmonies and sound on the old samba, Monica suggested a unification of the three. In the early 1980s, Getz again relapsed into his addictions, resulting in an arrest with an illegal gun in the home with Monica and some of the children. This resulted in an Order of Protection, issued in her favour, which contained a clause that Getz must be sober to be allowed into the house and an Order to go to treatment. As a countermove, Getz filed for divorce from Monica in 1981, but the couple reconciled at his insistence in 1982 and signed a Reconciliation Agreement in which they agreed to jointly buy a house they had found in San Francisco. Soon after, however, Getz relapsed. After a second illegal gun and cocaine incident, Monica returned to their New York home. At this time, she discovered the need for the courts to learn about addiction and founded the National Coalition for Family Justice in 1988. In 1987, Stan Getz was diagnosed with cancer. He died of liver cancer in 1991. His ashes were poured from his saxophone case six miles off the coast of Marina del Rey, California.
Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb,
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.