Getz Stan, born Stanley Getz, *2 February 1927 Philadelphia, †6 June 1991 Malibu, American jazz tenor saxophonist. From 1943 to 1947 he performed with, among others, Jack Teagarden, Stan Kenton, and Benny Goodman. In 1947, after joining Woody Herman’s orchestra, he formed, together with Zoot Sims, Herbie Steward, and Serge Chaloff, the famous saxophone section known as the Four Brothers, one of the defining sound ideals of cool jazz. From 1949 he performed exclusively in small ensembles. In 1958–59 he lived in Copenhagen, later returning permanently to the United States. In 1960, 1974, and 1978 he toured Poland; in 1960 he recorded the album Stan Getz in Poland (Polskie Nagrania, PN Muza L 0329) with Andrzej Trzaskowski’s trio. A highly expressive improviser and virtuoso saxophonist, he was one of the most outstanding and at the same time most popular jazz musicians. In the 1950s he was regarded as a leading figure of cool jazz, gaining particular fame as an exceptional interpreter of jazz ballads. In the mid-1960s he experienced a major revival of his career thanks to recordings and collaborations with Brazilian bossa nova artists (J. and A. Gilberto, A.C. Jobim, among others). It is widely believed that it was Getz with the album Jazz Samba, recorded with guitarist Charlie Byrd, who introduced and popularized this style of music.
