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.
Take Five
Stan Getz Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Our summer day withers away
Too soon, too soon.
Speak low when you speak, love,
Our moment is swift, like ships adrift,
We're swept apart too soon.
Love is a spark lost in the dark,
Too soon, too soon,
I feel wherever I go
That tomorrow is near, tomorrow is here
And always too soon.
Time is so old and love so brief,
Love is pure gold and time a thief.
We're late darling, we're late,
The curtain descends, ev'rything ends
Too soon, too soon,
I wait darling, I wait
Will you speak low to me,
Speak love to me and soon.
The first verse of Stan Getz's song Take Five, "Speak low when you speak, love, / Our summer day withers away / Too soon, too soon" establishes the tone of the song as one of bittersweetness and fleetingness. The singer is asking their lover to speak softly, to prolong the moment before it inevitably ends, much like the waning of a summer day. The second verse expands on this idea of temporality by likening their moment together to ships adrift, emphasizing how easily and quickly they could be separated. The chorus repeats "Speak low, darling speak low" as a refrain, underscoring the importance of cherishing each moment as it passes by.
Line by Line Meaning
Speak low when you speak, love,
When you express love, do it quietly and softly.
Our summer day withers away
Our time together is fleeting and will be gone soon.
Too soon, too soon.
Our time is limited and we're running out of it quickly.
Our moment is swift, like ships adrift,
Our moment together is like ships on the sea without a clear path, navigating aimlessly and quickly.
We're swept apart too soon.
We will soon be separated unwillingly.
Love is a spark lost in the dark,
The unique feelings of love can diminish quickly if not nurtured.
I feel wherever I go
I carry an awareness with me wherever I travel,
That tomorrow is near, tomorrow is here
I have an anticipation and awareness of the looming future.
And always too soon.
The future always comes too soon.
Time is so old and love so brief,
Time is endless and love is fleeting.
Love is pure gold and time a thief.
Love is valuable, but time ultimately takes it away from us.
We're late darling, we're late,
We do not have enough time, honey.
The curtain descends, ev'rything ends
We need to enjoy life while we can, because it all comes to an end.
Too soon, too soon,
It always feels like we run out of time too soon.
I wait darling, I wait
I will wait for you patiently, honey.
Will you speak low to me,
Can you express love to me quietly and calmly?
Speak love to me and soon.
Express how you feel about me soon.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: KURT WEILL, OGDEN NASH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@squintstheninja
So, famously, Dave Brubeck said that the group never intended for this song to be as famous as it became. Paul Desmond had a lick he wanted to play around with, and they used the opportunity to give Joe Morello an overdue drum solo.
So, Dave and Eugene kinda took a backseat while Paul did his thing, and then Joe got his solo.
But Joe could have gone nuts here. This is the era of Buddy Rich and Art Blakey. Drum solos were marked by how fast and how hard you can bash everything.
For one of jazz's most influential groups, in the group's most famous song- a jazz standard and by extention, arguably one of the most famous drum solos in jazz- Joe Morello's solo was so simple, a middle schooler on a PlayTek My First Kit could play it.
Joe could have gone nuts. He could have gone ferral for three minutes Whiplash-style. The team gave him a blank check to flex.
He didn't. He decided to just... he just vibed out, man.
They say jazz is about the notes you don't play. In that case, this is the greatest jazz drum solo of all time.
@baldilocks1914
I'm just going to leave my comment here so when someone likes it I can listen to this masterpiece again.
@ItsLarry-in1jq
Something tells me you're gonna be listening to this song a lot for the next while lol
@paulbellamy9920
Wanted to give you the gift of listening again. Happy holidays my friend.
@lioncat84
Sure, but right now this comment has 69 likes. Niiiiceee.
@McGuyveracity
You're welcome. 😊
@Tae__story
Like from Korea🖤
@robadobflob3405
Most people may not realize it, but for most of the song the saxophonist is playing incredibly quietly. It takes great skill to be able to play with a full, round tone at those volumes. It is so quiet on the sax track that you can hear the keys clicking and his fingers touching the brass sax.
@keibraun8679
I play the Alto as well, and I can vouch. It takes YEARS. YEARS of experience to the point where someone can make the saxophone’s tone even across the range of octaves and notes. Let alone quietly with a full sound, and a mysterious twist on the whole thing. There’s alot more that goes into the saxophone than just playing that many people don’t realize. He’s truly an amazing saxophonist.
@nicot9305
Thank you for pointing this out to us non-sax players.
Just to keep things clear for people new to jazz, Dave Brubeck is the piano player. As a non-sax player, I don't know the name of this amazing sax-player. But he's great!
Just from listening to this song for most of my life, I always thought Dave Brubeck was the sax player. So for young, and older, people who read these things....Know your Jazz!
@johnderouen1038
@@nicot9305 Paul Desmond is the saxophonist. Eugene Wright is on bass, and Joe Morello is on drums. Brilliant musicians, the lot of 'em.