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.
On The Alamo
Stan Getz Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
On the Alamo,
In a garden fair where roses grow,
In the tender light
Of a Summer night,
I can see her wander to and fro.
For she said, "I'll wait
On the night I said, "I love you so!",
And in all my dreams it seems I'll go
Where the moon swings low
On the Alamo.
Oh, she said she's gonna wait
Down by the garden gate,
On the night I said, "I love you so!",
And in all my dreams it seems that I'll go
Where the moon swings low
On the Alamo.
The lyrics of Stan Getz's song "On The Alamo" are a tribute to a romantic encounter in a garden fair where roses grow. The setting is on the Alamo, where the moon swings low, and the atmosphere is that of a tender light on a Summer night. The singer reminisces about a lady he loves, who wanders to and fro the garden fair. She promised to wait for him by the garden gate on the night he professed his love for her. The singer is obsessed with her and dreams of going there again where the moon swings low on the Alamo.
The song's lyrics embody the romanticism of an era in American jazz music in the 1940s. Stan Getz's rendition of the song, featuring his warm and delicate saxophone style, elevates the nostalgia in the lyrics, making it a timeless classic. The lyrics evoke feelings of love and a desire to be reunited with a lover, even in the face of distance and time. It is also noteworthy that the Alamo has become a symbol of freedom and loyalty, having been the site of a battle where a small garrison of Texan soldiers fought against the Mexican army in 1836.
Line by Line Meaning
Where the moon swings low
The moon is low, almost touching the ground.
On the Alamo,
The sight is on the Alamo or a place under its vicinity.
In a garden fair where roses grow,
There is a beautiful garden with roses that grow in it.
In the tender light
The moon provides soft light.
Of a Summer night,
It's a warm night during the summer season.
I can see her wander to and fro.
The singer can witness a woman wandering from one place to another in the garden.
For she said, "I'll wait
The woman said that she'd wait for the singer.
By the garden gate",
She'll wait for him near the garden gate.
On the night I said, "I love you so!",
The artist professed his love for her on a specific night.
And in all my dreams it seems I'll go
The artist is hopeful that in his dreams, he'll eventually go.
Where the moon swings low
He'll make his way to the place where the moon is low and almost touching the ground.
On the Alamo.
This place is either on or near the Alamo.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: GUS KAHN, ISHAM JONES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@stevewisniewski5860
Another classic. Such beautiful music from the soul in the heart. I hope my children eventually appreciate this.