22 Facts About Stan Getz

Stan Getz was born Stanley Gayetski on February 2,1927, at St Vincent's Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

Stan Getz's father Alexander was born in Mile End, London, in 1904, while his mother Goldie was born in Philadelphia in 1907.

Stan Getz worked hard in school, receiving straight A's, and finished sixth grade close to the top of his class.

Stan Getz moved on quickly to play all other saxophones, as well as the clarinet, but fell in love with the sound of the tenor saxophone, and began practicing eight hours a day while studying with Bill Shiner, a well-known saxophone teacher in the Bronx.

Stan Getz continued playing the saxophone at dances and bar mitzvahs.

Stan Getz 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.

Stan Getz played along with Nat King Cole and Lionel Hampton.

Stan Getz subsequently hired them for touring gigs, gaining Silver his earliest national exposure.

Stan Getz enhanced his profile with his featured performance on Johnny Smith's version of the song "Moonlight in Vermont", recorded in 1952, which became a hit single and stayed on the charts for months.

In 1952, Stan Getz signed with Norman Granz for his labels Clef and Norgran Records, which would be consolidated into Verve Records by 1956.

Stan Getz became involved in introducing bossa nova music to the American audience teaming with guitarist Charlie Byrd, who had just returned from a US State Department tour of Brazil.

Stan Getz and producer Creed Taylor claimed that the music's success was a result of their discovery of the talent of Astrud Gilberto, who had never recorded as a vocalist.

In 1972, Getz recorded the jazz fusion album Captain Marvel with Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Tony Williams, and in this period experimented with an Echoplex on his saxophone.

Stan Getz had a cameo in the film The Exterminator.

Stan Getz played the extended solo on part 2 of the title track, which became a minor hit single.

Stan Getz married Beverly Byrne, a vocalist with the Gene Krupa band, on November 7,1946, in Los Angeles; the couple had three children.

In 1954, Stan Getz held up a Seattle drugstore to obtain narcotics for his heroin addiction.

Stan Getz suffered from drug and alcohol dependency on and off for decades.

Stan Getz divorced Byrne in Mexico in 1956, after which, due to Byrne's own addictions, she was unable to take care of the children.

Stan Getz was reluctant, at first, as he had heard the two were "difficult".

In 1990, Monica Stan Getz petitioned the United States Supreme Court to have their divorce verdict overturned, which it declined.

Stan Getz's ashes were poured from his saxophone case six miles off the coast of Marina del Rey, California.