Stan Getz (Stanley Gayetzky, February 2, 1927 Philadelphia – June 6, 19… Read Full Bio ↴Stan Getz (Stanley Gayetzky, February 2, 1927 Philadelphia – June 6, 1991 Malibu, California) was an American jazz tenor saxophone player. Known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, Getz's prime influence was the wispy, mellow tone of his idol, Lester Young.

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.

Ligia
Stan Getz Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Eu nunca sonhei com você
Nunca fui ao cinema
Não gosto de samba não vou a Ipanema
Não gosto de chuva nem gosto de sol
E quando eu lhe telefonei, desliguei foi engano
O seu nome não sei
Esqueci no piano as bobagens de amor

Que eu iria dizer, não, Lígia Lígia
Eu nunca quis tê-la ao meu lado
Num fim de semana
Um chopp gelado em Copacabana
Andar pela praia até o Leblon
E quando eu me apaixonei
Não passou de ilusão, o seu nome rasguei
Fiz um samba canção das mentiras de amor
Que aprendi com você
É Lígia Lígia

E quando você me envolver
Nos seus braços serenos eu vou me render
Mas seus braços morenos

Me metem mais medo que um raio de sol
Lígia Lígia

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Stan Getz's song "Ligia", translated from Portuguese to English, describe the singer's lack of interest in the woman named Ligia. He claims to have never dreamed of her, never gone to the cinema with her or gone to popular spots in Rio de Janeiro, like Ipanema beach, because he doesn't like samba or the rain/sun. When he accidentally called her, he hung up and forgot her name, even though he had some "foolish love jokes" ready to say. He further explains that he never really wanted to be by her side for a weekend - going to get cold beer in Copacabana or walking on the beach towards Leblon, because his love for her was just an illusion. In the end, he admits that even though he would surrender himself to her in her arms, he's more afraid of her dark skin, as if it could be a "fear of the unknown".

It is interesting to note that though the song is largely in Portuguese, it has become popular with English speaking audiences due to its use in films and TV shows. Additionally, Ligia is not a real person, but rather a character imagined by the songwriters - acclaimed Brazilian musician Antonio Carlos Jobim and esteemed poet, lyricist, and diplomat Chico Buarque. There are various covers of the song, including by famous jazz musician Herbie Hancock, and the song itself has become known as one of the most beautiful bossa nova songs ever written.

Line by Line Meaning

Eu nunca sonhei com você
I have never had any dreams or thoughts about you

Nunca fui ao cinema
I have never been to the cinema

Não gosto de samba não vou a Ipanema
I don't like samba music and I never visit Ipanema

Não gosto de chuva nem gosto de sol
I don't like rain and I don't like the sun either

E quando eu lhe telefonei, desliguei foi engano
When I called you on the phone, I hung up by mistake

O seu nome não sei
I don't even know your name

Esqueci no piano as bobagens de amor
I forgot about all the silly things I wanted to say to you, and left them on my piano

Que eu iria dizer, não, Lígia Lígia
Things I was going to say to you, but won't now, because I am not interested in you, Lígia Lígia

Eu nunca quis tê-la ao meu lado
I never wanted you by my side

Num fim de semana
Not even for one weekend

Um chopp gelado em Copacabana
Not even for a cold beer in Copacabana