Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley "Stan" Getzwas an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott Yanow as "one of the all-time great tenor saxophonists". Getz went on to perform in bebop and cool jazz, but is perhaps best known for...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionSaxophonist
Date of Birth2 February 1927
CityPhiladelphia, PA
CountryUnited States of America
I compulsively reach for perfection in music, often at the expense of everything else in my life.
I learn something new every day.
I played in rhumba bands, mickey mouse bands; all kinds of bands.
You don't rehearse jazz to death to get the camera angles.
Records used to be documents, but now record companies want product.
It’s like a language. You learn the alphabet, which are the scales. You learn sentences, which are the chords. And then you talk extemporaneously with the horn. It’s a wonderful thing to speak extemporaneously, which is something I’ve never gotten the hang of. But musically I love to talk just off the top of my head. And that’s what jazz music is all about.
A good quartet is like a good conversation among friends interacting to each other's ideas.
We made records to document ourselves, not to sell a lot of records. I still feel that way. I put out a record because I think it's beautiful, not necessarily commercial.
As far as playing jazz, no other art form, other than conversation, can give the satisfaction of spontaneous interaction.
When I'm alcohol-free now and even to see the world around me, I appreciate it, but I never truly enjoy too much of it maybe because I feel like I'm a working musician. There are some joyous moments, but I will not think a joyous moment.
Hearing myself so much all the time, I don't think I sound that special all the time because it's me.
I had a 10-year heroin habit and kicked that. Then I became an alcoholic. I drank two fifth's a day.
I'm a recovered alcoholic. I don't do anything anymore, but those things, those things take away ... You're a different personality completely when you take those. For those who are really chemically dependent on anything, it's not you.
I never consciously tried to conceive of what my sound should be...