His parents were Ukrainian Jews who immigrated from Kyiv city, Ukraine in 1903. The family later moved to New York City for better jobs. Stan worked hard in school receiving straight "A's" on average and finished 6th grade close to the top of his class. Stan's major interest was in musical instruments, and he felt a need to play every instrument in his sight. He played a number of instruments before his father bought him his first saxophone at the age of 13. Even though his father also got him a clarinet, Stan instantly fell in love with the saxophone and began practicing 8 hours a day. In 1941, he was accepted into the All City High School Orchestra of New York City. This gave Stan a chance to receive a private, free tutor from the New York Philharmonic, Simon Kovar - a bassoon player. He also began to spend more time playing the saxophone. He eventually dropped out of school in order to pursue his musical career, but was later sent back to the classroom by the school system’s truancy officers.
In 1943, he was accepted into Jack Teagarden's band, and because of his youth he became Teagarden's ward. Getz also played along with Nat King Cole and Lionel Hampton. After playing for Stan Kenton, Jimmy Dorsey, and Benny Goodman, Getz was a soloist with Woody Herman from 1947 to 1949 in 'The Second Herd' and he first gained wide attention as one of the band's saxophonists, who were known collectively as 'The Four Brothers', the others being Serge Chaloff, Zoot Sims and Herbie Steward. With Herman, he had a hit with "Early Autumn" and after Getz left 'The Second Herd' he was able to launch his solo career. He would be the leader on almost all of his recording sessions after 1950.
During the early '50s, Getz broke away from the Lester Young style to form his own musical identity and he was soon among the most popular of all jazzmen. He discovered Horace Silver in 1950 and used him in his quartet for several months. After touring Sweden in 1951, he formed an exciting quintet that co-featured guitarist Jimmy Raney; their interplay on up-tempo tunes and tonal blend on ballads was quite memorable. Getz's playing helped Johnny Smith have a hit in "Moonlight in Vermont," during 1953-1954 Bob Brookmeyer made his group a quintet and, despite some drug problems during the decade, Getz was a constant poll winner. After spending 1958-1960 in Europe, the tenorman returned to the U.S. and recorded his personal favorite album, Focus, with arranger Eddie Sauter's Orchestra.
Getz became a central figure in introducing bossa nova music to the U.S. audience. Teaming with guitarist 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 "One Note Samba". Getz won the Grammy for Best Jazz Performance of 1963 for "Desafinado". As a follow-up, Getz recorded Jazz Samba Encore! with one of the originators of bossa nova, Brazilian guitarist Luiz Bonfa.
He then recorded the album Getz/Gilberto with Tom Jobim, João Gilberto and his wife, Astrud Gilberto. Their "The Girl from Ipanema" won a Grammy Award. The piece became one of the most well-known latin jazz cuts 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. A live album, Getz/Gilberto Vol. 2, followed, as did Getz Au Go Go, a recording made live at the Cafe Au Go Go. Unfortunately, Getz' affair with Astrud Gilberto brought an end to his musical partnership with her and her husband and he began to move away from bossa-nova and back to cool jazz. Even while still working with the Gilbertos, he recorded Nobody Else But Me an album of straightforward jazz 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. It eventually came out 30 years later, after Getz had died.
In 1972, Getz recorded in the fusion idiom with Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke. This group, without Getz, went on to become the famous Return to Forever, and many of the pieces including "La Fiesta" remained in their repertoire. In this period Getz experimented with an Echoplex on his saxophone, for which critics vilified him. He eventually discarded fusion and "electric jazz", returning to acoustic jazz, while at the same time gradually de-emphasizing the Bossa Nova, opting for more esoteric and less-mainstream jazz. He had a cameo in the movie The Exterminator (1980).
Towards the end of his life the now drug-free Getz had another creative peak with a group including the pianist Kenny Barron, whom Getz described as "my musical other half".
In 1986, he was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame.
Getz married Beverly Byrne, a vocalist with the Gene Krupa band, on 7 November 1946; they had three children together: Steven, David, and Beverly (who married Michael McGovern).
Getz became involved with drugs and alcohol while a teenager. In 1954, he was arrested for attempting to rob a pharmacy to get a morphine fix. As he was being processed in the prison ward of Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, Beverly gave birth to their third child one floor below.
Getz tried to escape his narcotics addiction by moving to Copenhagen. He married Swedish aristocrat Monica Silfverskiöld on 3 November 1956 and had two children with her: Pamela and Nicolas. In 1957 Swedish girlfriend Inga Torgnér gave birth to a son Peter. Stan divorced Monica in 1987.
Zoot Sims, who had known Getz since their time with Herman, once described him as 'a nice bunch of guys', as a consequence of the wide behavioural range of which Getz was capable. In the final stages of his life Getz was able to end his addictions.
Getz died of liver cancer in 1991. His body was cremated and the ashes scattered at sea, off the coast of Malibu, California.
In 1998 the 'Stan Getz Media Center and Library' at the Berklee College of Music was dedicated through a donation from the Herb Alpert Foundation.
Chega de Saudade
Stan Getz Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
mais cheia de graá§a
በela menina
que vem que passa
Num doce balaná§o
caminho do mar
Moá§a do corpo dourado
O seu balaná§ado
é mais que um poema
በa coisa mais linda
que eu já¡ vi passar
Ah, porque estou tá£o sozinho
Ah, porque tudo e tá£o triste
Ah, a beleza que existe
A beleza que ná£o é só minha
que também passa sozinha
Ah, se ela soubesse
que quando ela passa
O mundo sorrindo
se enche de graá§a
E fica mais lindo
por causa do amor
Tall and tan and young and lovely
The girl from Ipanema goes walking
And when she passes
Each one she passes goes, aaaaaah
When she walks, she's like a samba
That swings so cool and sways so gently
That when she passes
Each one she passes goes, aaaaaah
Ooh, but he watches so sadly
How can he tell her he loves her
Yes, he would give his heart gladly
But each day, when she walks to the sea
She looks straight ahead, not at him
Tall, and tan, and young, and lovely
The girl from Ipanema goes walking
And when she passes
He smiles, but she doesn't see
Ooh, but he sees her so sadly
How can he tell her he loves her
Yes, he would give his heart gladly
But each day, when she walks to the sea
She looks straight ahead, not at him
Tall, and tan, and young, and lovely
The girl from Ipanema goes walking
And when she passes
He smiles, but she doesn't see
The lyrics of "Chega De Saudade" ("No More Blues" in English) by Stan Getz are about the beauty of a young woman who walks down the beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The song begins with the singer admiring and describing the beauty and grace of the woman who passes by, creating a sweet movement while walking to the sea. The lyrics then switch to the perspective of a man who is in love with the woman but is unable to express his feelings. Although he sees her walking daily, he knows she doesn't see him, so he can only watch her go by silently.
The melancholic lyrics create a sense of loneliness and unrequited love, while the upbeat rhythm and bossa nova style in which the song is performed contrasts with the negative emotion of the lyrics. The song expresses the idea that the beauty that surrounds us is fleeting and not to be taken for granted.
Overall, the song conveys the idea of the artistic and poetic concept of "saudade," which is a feeling of nostalgic longing or melancholy that arises from a sense of loss or separation. This concept is prominent in Brazilian culture, especially in music and literature and is an important part of the country's national identity.
Line by Line Meaning
Olha que coisa mais linda, mais cheia de graá§a
Look at the most beautiful and graceful thing
በela menina que vem que passa
It's the girl who comes and goes
Num doce balaná§o caminho do mar
On a sweet swing towards the sea
Moá§a do corpo dourado do sol de Ipanema
Golden girl from the sun-kissed Ipanema
O seu balaná§ado é mais que um poema
Her swinging is more than a poem
በa coisa mais linda que eu jᡠvi passar
She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen passing by
Ah, porque estou tá£o sozinho
Ah, why am I so alone
Ah, porque tudo e tá£o triste
Ah, why is everything so sad
Ah, a beleza que existe
Ah, the beauty that exists
A beleza que ná£o é só minha que também passa sozinha
The beauty that is not just mine and also passes by alone
Ah, se ela soubesse que quando ela passa
Ah, if she only knew that when she passes by
O mundo sorrindo se enche de graá§a
The world fills with grace and smiles
E fica mais lindo por causa do amor
And becomes more beautiful because of love
Tall and tan and young and lovely
She is tall, tanned, young, and lovely
The girl from Ipanema goes walking
The girl from Ipanema walks by
And when she passes, each one she passes goes, aaaaaah
When she walks, everyone she passes by goes, aaaaaah
When she walks, she's like a samba that swings so cool and sways so gently
Her walk is like a cool and gentle swinging samba
Ooh, but he watches so sadly
But he watches her with sadness
How can he tell her he loves her
How could he express his love to her
Yes, he would give his heart gladly
He would give his heart without hesitation
But each day, when she walks to the sea, she looks straight ahead, not at him
But every day, when she walks towards the sea, she looks straight ahead and not at him
Tall, and tan, and young, and lovely
She is tall, tanned, young, and lovely
The girl from Ipanema goes walking
The girl from Ipanema walks by
And when she passes, he smiles, but she doesn't see
When she walks by, he smiles, but she doesn't notice
Ooh, but he sees her so sadly
But he sees her with sadness
How can he tell her he loves her
How could he express his love to her
Yes, he would give his heart gladly
He would give his heart without hesitation
But each day, when she walks to the sea, she looks straight ahead, not at him
But every day, when she walks towards the sea, she looks straight ahead and not at him
Tall, and tan, and young, and lovely
She is tall, tanned, young, and lovely
The girl from Ipanema goes walking
The girl from Ipanema walks by
And when she passes, he smiles, but she doesn't see
When she walks by, he smiles, but she doesn't notice
Contributed by Zoe B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@luliluli1471
Muitos brasileiros cresceram ouvindo Stan Getz tocando samba sem ter a mínima ideia de que era gringo. Muito menos Americano. O rapaz performava o ritmo com naturalidade e maestria. Que alegria ouvi-lo tocar.❤
@storybored972
I read that Coltrane said of Getz ‘We’d all play like that, if we could.’
@harrygio1
One one the best saxophonist ever. He had command of every genre - jazz. bossa nova, symphonic (Focus). The Sergio Mendez recordings are priceless and everyone remembers you Stan. RIP for you are gone but you tenor lives forever!!!
@Upsunday
Estoy escuchándola en Agosto de 2021. Mi más grande Saxofonista........Nunca me canso de escucharlo.
@MrRezillo
Stan Getz and the bossa nova were made for each other. Loved this.
@lucasm.9196
this is the most beautiful music in the world, and its Brazilian
@edwardmallon8679
Well said Lucas. If only people would put aside their junk music and groove on this
@thebritandtheyank3821
For us tenor players (dare I speak for any of us?), Stan Getz teaches a wonderful parallel path to Hawkins, Gordon, Stitt, Rollins and Trane. We've got a very rich history!, how nice to enjoy it, rather than get bogged down by it.
@user-by7of3zl1e
EVERYTIME I START TO LISTEN HIS PHRASES MY FIRIST WORD IS WOW .
@raoulvanheuverzwyn3524
The one and only. Utterly inspiring !