Rapp on Jazz: Stan Getz

Published April 23, 2025 at 6:13 AM EDT

Stan Getz performs in New York City at Carnegie Hall July 1, 1988. The concert was sponsored by the JVC Jazz Festival and featured songs of the late, great jazz drummer Buddy Rich. (AP Photo/ Carlos Rene Perez)

TRANSCRIPT:

Hi, I’m Mark Rapp, and this is Rapp on Jazz.

Tenor saxophonist Stan Getz, born Stanley Gayetski on February 2, 1927, was nicknamed "The Sound" due to his warm, lyrical tone. His primary influence was the mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Getz rose to fame in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band and performed in bebop and cool jazz ensembles. João Gilberto and Antônio Carlos Jobim also influenced him. His 1964 single "The Girl From Ipanema" played a significant role in popularizing bossa nova in the United States.

Getz's ability to seamlessly blend jazz with Brazilian rhythms solidified his reputation as one of jazz's most distinctive and enduring artists.

This has been Rapp on Jazz, a co-production of ColaJazz and SC Public Radio, made possible in part by Layman Poupard Publishers, producers of the Literary Criticism Series and the Dictionary of Literary Biography.