Person · 1927–1991 · New York City [40.71, -74.01]

Stan Getz

An American tenor saxophonist famed for his warm, breathy "cool jazz" tone, Getz became bossa nova's most important North American champion. His 1962 album "Jazz Samba" with Charlie Byrd brought the style onto US charts, and his 1964 collaboration "Getz/Gilberto" carried it to the top of the industry. His lyrical phrasing proved an ideal match for Jobim's harmonies.

Evidence2

Connections6

  • collaborates with → João Gilberto

    The 1964 album Getz/Gilberto joined Stan Getz's breathy tenor saxophone to João Gilberto's whispered guitar and voice in the recording that carried bossa nova to the world. Cut in New York with Antônio Carlos Jobim at the piano, it became the rare jazz record to win Album of the Year. The collaboration fixed the sound of bossa nova in the international ear.

  • collaborates with → Antônio Carlos Jobim

  • collaborates with → Astrud Gilberto

    Astrud Gilberto, present at the Getz/Gilberto sessions and not yet a professional singer, sang the English verses of 'The Girl from Ipanema' alongside Stan Getz's saxophone. Her cool, unaffected delivery became the voice that sold the song to the world. The chance collaboration made her an international figure overnight.

  • collaborates with → Jazz Samba (1962 album)

  • collaborates with → Luiz Bonfá

  • influenced by → Charlie Parker Quintet

    Stan Getz came up through the bebop and cool-jazz groups whose ranks were full of Charlie Parker's sidemen, absorbing the harmonic expansion of the bebop generation. He then carried that jazz fluency into bossa nova, making Jazz Samba and Getz/Gilberto the bridge between the two scenes.

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