Stan Getz Was The Voice Of The Angels, and Stan Getz Was A Schmuck

"Stan Getz is bunch of nice guys" –Zoot Sims

by Joe Schwab

Being a teenage dope-fiend and a raging alcoholic on a bender streching out over three decades can take a toll on a man. Despite being in posession of prodigious talent, even the strongest of men can be brought to their knees. Stan Getz succumbed to that, making him moody, violent and confrontational. Despite these shortcomings, he was a man whose talents were beyond reproach. After fooling around with a few instruments as a kid, he settled on saxophone. And although it can’t be substantiated, it’s said he mastered the instrument in four months. Stan had found his voice with the tenor saxophone. While correctly associated with the Lester Young School of the tenor, his playing always brought on a kind of distant howl like a shofer from the temple, reminiscent of his Jewish upbringing, a Jewish Prez if you will. It should be said to those who feel that he was just a Lester Young impersonator, Prez himself was always an admirer and champion of Getz. Stan had it all, movie star good looks, a beautiful home, a lovely family, a gorgeous wife and that supreme talent. He seemed to want it all, the normal life and the life of a Jazz star, but his demons always got the best of him. Stan Getz was a junkie, a bad drunk, a lousy husband, father and friend. I’m certain he was a crappy Jew as well, I’m not sure how often he frequented the synagogue, but I’m guessing not very often. Music was not always his number one priority. Women and drugs were usually the order of business that preceded all, um… musical business.

Stan and Steve Getz at the St. Louis Zoo, 1961.

So now we all know that Getz was a schmuck (much of the time), it should also be known that the man made some fine music, and to this day is arguably considered one of the top five tenor players in Jazz history. His break-out solo on Woody Herman’s “Early Autumn” started it all. Then came his great body of work for Roost, Verve, Prestige and those great European recordings of the 50’s. Getz will be best remembered for the Bossa Nova records with Charlie Byrd, Joao Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Luiz Bonfa, Laurindo Almeida and of course Astrid Gilberto. While all these recordings are anywhere from great to classic, his body of work from the last 10-15 years of his life may be his finest output. His choice of songs and personnel were beyond reproach. He could piss off his band mates, knowing that rehearsal was not something he needed. He could naturally pick up tunes and tempo without the effort that so many musicians have to practice for years. He had amazing dexterity, a fabulous sense of harmony and that unmistakable Getz sound. 

Stan stopped drinking in 1985. For the first time in his life he was going into the studio clean and sober with a clear mind and body. Despite his fears of recording without the aid of drink and drugs, the results were extraordinary. Although it was released posthumously the album Bossas and Ballads was his strongest effort in years and one of his all-time best. Getz was diagnosed with liver cancer in 1987, years of drug and alcohol abuse having finally caught up with him. Although the prognosis was dire, he kept working as well as teaching at Stanford. Aside from cleaning up and adding an herb diet, he spent the remainder of his life atoning his sins and making amends to all the family and friends he had wronged in the past. For some, it was too little too late, but to those close to him such as his band and family it was a rediscovery of the man they only saw on occasion. Getz died in 1991 at his home in Malibu, dozens of new recordings have surfaced since (all of them excellent) and his daughter Bev Getz curates a wonderful website devoted to Stan’s legacy. 

Download:

"Early Autumn" mp3
by Woody Herman Orchestra, 1948.
available on Keeper of Flame

"Night Rider" mp3
by Stan Getz & Eddie Sauter, 1961.
available on Focus

"O Grande Amor" mp3
by Stan Getz & João Gilberto, 1964.
available on  Getz/Gilberto

"Sweet Rain" mp3
by Stan Getz, 1967
available on  Sweet Rain (Dig)

"Soul Eyes" mp3
by Stan Getz, 1989.
available on Bossas & Ballads: The Lost Sessions

photographs by Bernie Thrasher, from the Euclid Records Archive
 

The Fascinating Life of Albino Red

by Joe Schwab

So it’s the final night of Hanukkah 2010 and this will be the last musical candle on the menorah for the Boogie Woogie Flu. A perfect way to end this festival of lights is with the legendary Jewish trumpeter whom during his lifetime crossed paths with both Charlie Parker AND Wayne Kramer. I’m talking about the great red headed Be-Bopper Red Rodney - born Robert Roland Chudnick - a boy that became a man after he received his first trumpet at the age of 13 for his Bar Mitzvah.

Although he was originally self taught, He later studied the trumpet at Jules E. Masterbaum Vocational School in his hometown of Philadelphia. Among his classmates was Buddy DeFranco, the great clarinetist who helped to transform the clarinet from a Big Band staple into a weapon of Be-Bop dexterity. A young alto saxophonist named John Coltrane also attended the school, as well as the often overlooked trumpet master Joe Wilder. In 1942, at the tender age of sixteen, Red left Philly for Atlantic City. Though he was too young for the draft, he wasn’t too young to lie about his age and start hitting the road with the orchestras of Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey, Tony Pastor and Jerry Wald. In 1945 shortly after his return to Philadelphia, Red’s life was changed forever after seeing a set by Dizzy Gillespie. While playing a gig at the Down Beat Club, Red was able to sit in with his hero. Leaving a lasting impression on Dizzy who remembered Red and later introduced him to Charlie Parker after the two had reunited at The Three Deuces in NYC.

For much of the remaining years of the 40’s, Rodney continued playing with Big Bands. Claude Thornhill’s band was at the forefront of taking Be-Bop and smoothing it down into an experimental, yet danceable formula with arrangements by Gil Evans and Gerry Mulligan. He also spent time with the Bop leaning bands of Gene Krupa and Woody Herman, but his life was about to be changed forever when in 1948 Charlie Parker invited Rodney to come to New York to replace Miles Davis in his Quintet.

Despite the fact that Rodney spent time in the hard drug hot beds of the Herman and Krupa bands, he resisted heroin. While playing with Bird in ‘48 and throughout 1949, Parker used himself as an example of why Rodney should avoid the temptations of hard drugs, but as so many Bird disciples before him, seeing was believing. If Charlie Parker could play so brilliantly while high, then why couldn’t he? As legend has it, Parker did a Southern tour in 1949, tagging the light skinned redhead as “Albino Red” as to not lay credence on the fact that it was, indeed, a mixed race Quintet. By 1951, Rodney had succumbed to dope, developed a habit, and became a full fledged junkie leading to only occasional sessions and a short stint with Charlie Ventura. Although he had kicked and began a successful career fronting dance bands in his home town of Philadelphia, the Jazz life had driven him back to Be-bop and heroin use. His life changed dramatically in 1958 while in San Francisco. Broke and out of work, he impersonated an Army officer and stole $10,000 from the Atomic Energy Commission. Caught in 1964, Rodney did prison time on a sentence of 27 months. During this time he received his Bachelors degree and began studying law. After his jail term was up, he continued his law studies only to be detoured by the fact that convicted felons could not apply for the bar.

Music once again became his priority, landing in Las Vegas, accompanying everyone from Barbara Streisand to Elvis Presley. His dependence on heroin was still in effect throughout the 70’s which found him relocating to Europe where in 1975 he was busted once again by U.S. Narcotic agents, this time in the middle of the night. While serving time in 1975 he befriended the MC5’s Wayne Kramer, by teaching him, as Kramer has said, “a Berklee School of Music course in writing and arranging” as well as playing in the prison band with the guitarist.

Finally clean and sober, Rodney’s career once aging took off in the 1980’s with a series of recordings in Europe and the U.S. as well as reuniting with his long time collaborator Ira Sullivan. Much of the final years of Red’s life were spent playing with young musicians such as pianist Gary Dial and saxophonist Chris Potter. While revisiting many of the Be-Bop staples, his youthful sound along with a young band seemed to revitalize Rodney and his career. Having seen Rodney myself in 1993, there's no doubt in my mind that he was rejuvenated and playing the best he had in his career.

In 1994, Rodney died of lung cancer at the top of his powers. He’s survived by his two sons, one of which, Mark Rodney had moderate success in the 70’s as part of the Soft Rock duo of Batdorf and Rodney.


Download:

"Elevation" mp3
by Red Rodney's Be-Boppers / New York City January 29, 1947.
Red Rodney t, Allen Eager ts, Serge Chaloff bs,
Al Haig p, Chubby Jackson b, Tiny Kahn d.
available on Bebop

"Hot House (Long)" mp3
by Charlie Parker Quintet / Live in Chicago, Pershing Hotel, 1949.
Charlie Parker as, Red Rodney tp, Al Haig p,
Tommy Potter b, Max Roach d.
available on Complete Pershing Club Sets

"Swedish Schnapps" mp3
by Charlie Parker Quintet / New York City August 8, 1951.
Charlie Parker as, Red Rodney tp, John Lewis p,
Ray Brown b, Kenny Clarke d.
available on Complete Verve Master Takes

"Little Willie Leaps" mp3
by Red Rodney Quintet / New York City - November 1990.
Red Rodney tr, Chris Potter ts, David Kikoski p,
Chip Jackson b, Jimmy Madison d.
available on Red Alert

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This is the last of eight posts at the Boogie Woogie Flu, in which eight Jewish writers discussed the works of other Jewish artists for eight consecutive nights in celebration of Hanukkah. I'd like to extend my thanks to everyone who contributed these wonderful posts.

Happy Hanukkah,
Ted.



top photo: by William P. Gottlieb, 1948.
above photo: © Ted Barron, 2010.

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