Stanley Gayetsky (aka Stan Getz) (1927 in Philadelphia - 1991 in Malibu, California) was born to Russian-Jewish parents and raised in New York City, Getz played a number of instruments before his father bought him his first saxophone at the age of 13. In 1943, he was accepted into Jack Teagarden's band. After playing in various bands (1944 Stan Kenton; 1945 Jimmy Dorsey; 1945?46 Benny Goodman), Getz became known as a soloist in the Woody Herman Band from 1947?49. He scored a hit with his melodic and lyrical solo on Ralph Burns's Early Autumn. With few exceptions, Getz would be a leader on all of his recording sessions after 1950.
Getz became involved with drugs and alcohol while a teenager. He also developed a pack-a-day cigarette habit. In 1954, he was arrested for trying to stick up a pharmacy to get morphine. As he was being processed in the prison ward of Los Angeles City Hospital, his wife - Beverly Byrne, a former vocalist with the Gene Krupa band, whom he married on November 7, 1946 - gave birth to their third child one floor below; they divorced in 1956. Getz married Swedish aristocrat Monica Silfverskiold on November 3, 1956, and had 1 child. In 1957, a son was born to Inga Torgner, one of his many dalliances. Getz beat both wives repeatedly during drug-induced rages. Beverly was addicted to heroin, as was Stan, but eventually got sober. After years of trying to get him sober, Monica, who had gained custody of Stan and Beverly's children, left him; he divorced her in 1987, claiming, incredibly, abuse and infidelity. [1]
In the 1950s, Getz had become popular playing cool jazz with Horace Silver, Johnny Smith, Oscar Peterson, and many others. His first two quintets were notable for their personnel, including Charlie Parker's rhythm section of drummer Roy Haynes, Al Haig and bassist Tommy Potter. In 1958, Getz tried to escape his narcotics addiction by moving to Copenhagen, Denmark.
Returning to America in 1961, Getz became a central figure in the fusion of jazz and Bossa Nova. Along with Charlie Byrd, who had just returned from a U.S. State Department tour of Brazil, Getz recorded Jazz Samba in 1962 and it became a hit. The title track was an adaptation of Antonio Carlos Jobim's "So Danco Samba". Getz won the Grammy for Best Jazz Performance of 1963 for "Desafinado".
He then recorded with Jobim, Joao Gilberto and his wife, Astrud Gilberto, with whom Getz had a brief affair. Their "The Girl from Ipanema" won a Grammy Award. "Ipanema" became one of the most well-known jazz pieces of all time. Getz/Gilberto won two Grammys (Best Album and Best Single), besting The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night, a victory for Bossa Nova and Brazilian jazz. Other musicians such as Wes Montgomery and Joe Henderson incorporated Brazilian jazz in their work. In 1967, Getz recorded albums with Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke.
After another drug-induced hiatus in Malaga, Spain, Getz resurfaced, playing with electric ensembles into the 1980s, and experimenting with an Echoplex on his saxophone, for which critics vilified him. He eventually discarded fusion and "electric jazz" for acoustic jazz again. Getz gradually de-emphasized the Bossa Nova, opting for more esoteric and less-mainstream jazz.
Getz died in 1991 of liver cancer. In 1998, The "Stan Getz Media Center and Library" at the Berklee College of Music was dedicated to the memory of the saxophonist through a donation from the Herb Alpert Foundation.
Stanley Gayetzsky, plus connu sous le nom de Stan Getz (2 fevrier 1927-6 juin 1991) etait un musicien de jazz americain. Il est considere comme l'un des plus grands joueurs de saxophone tenor. On le surnommait "The Sound", "Le Son" (source : "Dictionnaire du jazz" par Franck Tenot, ed. Larousse), en raison de sa sonorite ample, pure et riche que John Coltrane lui-meme enviait.
Stan Getz, ne le 2 fevrier 1927 a Philadelphie, fait ses debuts au saxophone tenor chez Dick Rogers en 1942, alors qu'il avait 15 ans. Avant d'etre engage par Stan Kenton en 1944, il effectue des stages chez Jack Teagarden, Dale Jones et Bob Chester. Puis il joue avec les orchestres de Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Randy Brooks, Buddy Morrow et Herbie Fields. Installe en Californie, il s'associe avec Butch Jones, dirige un trio, et est engage par Woody Herman (1947-1949). Au sein de cette formation, il participe aux travaux des "Brothers", surnom de la section des saxophonistes. On y trouve Zoot Sims, Herbie Stewart et Serge Chaloff. Leur style se caracterise par une belle homogeneite et beaucoup de vehemence.
Plus tard, Stan Getz prend la tete d'un petit groupe comprenant Jimmy Raney, Bob Brookmeyer, Al Haig ou Horace Silver. Il se produit en Scandinavie en 1951 et 1955, collabore aux tournees du J.A.T.P. (1957-1958), reside souvent en Europe (1958-1959).
En 1962,il decouvre le Bresil et la bossa nova. Il enregistre a New York en 1963 le fameux album Getz/Gilberto avec le "pere" de la bossa nova, Joao Gilberto et aussi la participation de son epouse Astrud notamment dans une version du standard d'Tom Jobim et Vinicius de Moraes : A Garota de Ipanema qui deviendra en anglais The Girl from Ipanema et sera la version de ce morceau la plus connue et la plus jouee sur les radios. C'est Getz lui-meme qui eut l'idee de faire reprendre les paroles de la chanson en anglais par Astrud Gilberto, qui n'etait pas connue comme chanteuse a l'epoque, les paroles que Joao chante au debut, en portugais.
Il dirige de petits groupes, parmi lesquels figurent Gary Burton, la chanteuse Astrud Gilberto, le guitariste Charlie Byrd et se produit dans de nombreuses salles, dont le Go-Go de New York, ou il enregistre, avec Astrud, l'album Getz au Go-Go qui contient notamment une version tres personnelle d'un autre standard de Jazz : Summertime.
Il fut un des heureux profiteurs de cette vogue de la bossa et decouvreur de jeunes talents comme les pianistes Chick Corea, Joanne Brackeen et Andy Laverne. Il a aide aussi a la redecouverte d'un savoureux pianiste en la personne de Jimmy Rowles. Il a joue jusqu'a la fin de sa vie avec beaucoup de musiciens, essentiellement en quartet, avec toujours autant d'inspiration.
Stan Getz est le plus important saxophoniste blanc. Chef de file de l'ecole cool, il combine une sonorite douce et feutree au phrase et au decoupage rythmique de Lester Young. Tendre, etheree, elegante, sa musique s'oppose a la rudesse des disciples de Coleman Hawkins, a la crudite du blues et aux excentricites du bebop. Elle eut une influence preponderante sur l'evolution du jazz, d'abord par l'intermediaire des musiciens blancs de la cote Ouest, ensuite par son emprise sur les conceptions de Miles Davis. Vers le milieu des annees 1950, au moment ou le hard bop supplante le cool, Stan Getz evolue a l'interieur meme de son style, vers une expression plus virile. Sa sonorite se dilate; sa technique lui permet une exploitation plus totale des ressources de l'instrument; il mele douceur et punch, devient un artiste complet, improvisateur toujours en verve, vehement et raffine, assumant les taches les plus ambitieuses comme les plus routinieres, a l'aise aussi bien avec Dizzy Gillespie ou Chet Baker qu'avec des orchestres a cordes ou des rythmes bresiliens.
- 2014
