Stan Getz - Innovative West Coast Tenor Saxist: 19

Getz, Stan

The America that the young Stan Getz burst into was confident and dynamic. World War II, soon to be won, would leave America as the sole superpower. People everywhere were avid for entertainment - and American movies, music and publications led the way. Jazz was changing. Leading young players were following the trail blazed by Charlie Parker. Bop may have been the area that many innovative musicians wanted to explore - but most of the public didn't. Big cities might support a couple of clubs and a record store specialising in experimental jazz - but elsewhere, hoping to hear Frank Sinatra one day teamed with Count Basie was considered thrillingly avant-garde. It would take a special genius to reconcile the new complexity with something the average fan could enjoy. Popularity might have exposed Stan to some serious gibes from fellow pros. That it didn't happen (yes, the critics sniped, but that's another matter) was a tribute to the respect that his virtuosity brought him. Stan Getz was born in Philadelphia on February 2nd 1927. While Stan was still young, his family moved to New York. After an intensive musical education it became obvious that he was exceptional. A place at Julliard was organised for him, but Jazz was the only way. He worked briefly with both Stan Kenton and Jimmy Dorsey, before joining Benny Goodman - a position he held for a little more than a year. This assurance never left him During his time with Goodman, Stan recorded the first four cuts on here. He's still in his teens, and at ease in one of the biggest bands of the era. Ahead for Stan lay a lifetime's impeccable output and a period when he seduced the whole world. He was one of the West Coast Jazzmen who succumbed to drug addiction. Unlike others, he seems to have maintained a consistent career throughout - travelling the world as a much in-demand star. He was said never to have made a dud record - a claim that's certainly borne out here.

Price: $47.98

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