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.
The Folks Who Live On The Hill
Stan Getz Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
On a hilltop high, you and I,
Shiny and new, a cottage that two can fill.
And we'll be pleased to be called
"The folks who live on the hill."
Someday we may be adding
A thing or two, a wing or two.
But we will always be called
"The folks who live on the hill."
Our veranda will command a view of meadows green,
The sort of view that seems to want to be seen.
And when the kids grow up and leave us,
We'll sit and look at the same old view, just we two.
Darby and Joan who, used to be Jack and Jill,
The folks like to be called
What they have always been called,
"The folks who live on the hill."
The lyrics of "The Folks Who Live On the Hill" by Stan Getz describe a romantic dream of building a home on a high hilltop with a breathtaking view. The lyrics revolve around the idea of the perfect life that the couple is aspiring towards, with a home of their own where they can enjoy each other's company and the beauty of nature. The song talks about the couple's plan of building a cottage that is shiny and new and big enough for just two.
The lyrics suggest that even though the couple may change or add things to their home as families do, they would always be the folks who live on the hill. The verse, "We will make changes as any family will. But we will always be called 'The folks who live on the hill,'" suggests that their identity is tied to the house they built on the hill, with a view of meadows green, their dream house, which they will cherish and be proud of as long as they live.
The song's bridge and closing verse liken the couple to "Darby and Joan," an old English expression that symbolizes long-standing couples who have weathered the storms of life. The final line of the song, "The folks who live on the hill," is repeated for another time, reinforcing the idea of "home" and "identity" hand in hand.
Line by Line Meaning
Someday we'll build a home
In the future, we will construct a dwelling place
On a hilltop high, you and I,
Our house will be situated on a high point of terrain where you and I will reside
Shiny and new, a cottage that two can fill.
Our abode will be newly constructed and small enough to accommodate only two individuals
And we'll be pleased to be called
It will bring us happiness to be referred to as
"The folks who live on the hill."
"The people who reside on the top of the elevated land."
Someday we may be adding
In the future, we may make additions to our dwelling
A thing or two, a wing or two.
These additions could be a few extra features or even additional living spaces
We will make changes as any family will.
As a family, we will make modifications as necessary
But we will always be called
However, we will continue to be referred to as
"The folks who live on the hill."
"The people who reside on the top of the elevated land."
Our veranda will command a view of meadows green,
Our porch will have a view of lush, green grasslands
The sort of view that seems to want to be seen.
This view will be so beautiful that it will seem to be inviting us to look at it.
And when the kids grow up and leave us,
Once our children mature and depart from home
We'll sit and look at the same old view, just we two.
The two of us will sit and relish the identical view as before
Darby and Joan who, used to be Jack and Jill,
We will resemble Darby and Joan, who were once like Jack and Jill
The folks like to be called
We prefer to be referred to as
What they have always been called,
The appellation that we have always had
"The folks who live on the hill."
"The people who reside on the top of the elevated land."
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Jerome Kern, Oscar II Hammerstein
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@mihaialdea34
Un saxofonist inconfundabil!
@goldsboroexpress
wonderful...thank you...
@Memale2009
Merci, cher Otaku, pour ce titre merveilleux!
@vova47
I remember buying this EP on Polish "Muza" label as a very young boy. One of my first jazz records and still sounds great.
Arigato gozaimasu, Otaku-san!
@60otaku4
Dou itashimashite, vova47-san!!
Otaku4 (*^_^)/
@bohumilknop563
My favorite records of Stan Getz!Thank you Otaku4-san!
@60otaku4
You're most welcome, Bohumil-san!!
Otaku4 d(^_^)b
@jazzrecordingsandarchives9198
The label is called Muza, which means music. Btw Polish people should recognize Polish jazz more than they do really. And that comes from a Polish person (me).
@vova47
Muza in English translates as a Muse - a source of inspiration for the artist, composer or musician.
@hetmanjz
Pianist's name is spelled "Trzaskowski," by the way. A crucial figure in the development of modern jazz in Poland, especially as composer/pianist/leader (cf. Krzysztof Komeda) on two mid-'60s albums -- "Quintet" and "Seant" -- featuring some of the top Polish musicians of the period (including a young Tomasz Stanko), and guest trumpeter Ted Curson (on "Seant"): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FrYM8-vk7w & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCRe8OwFwk8