A good quartet is like a good conversation among friends interacting to each other's ideas.
Stan Getz

As far as playing jazz, no other art form, other than conversation, can give the satisfaction of spontaneous interaction.
Stan Getz

I appreciate men like Ben Webster and Coleman Hawkins very much.
Stan Getz

I came from an era when we didn't use electronic instruments. The bass wasn't even amplified. The sound was the sound you got.
Stan Getz

I played in rhumba bands, mickey mouse bands; all kinds of bands.
Stan Getz

If you like an instrument that sings, play the saxophone. At its best it's like the human voice.
Stan Getz

Life is too full of distractions nowadays. When I was a kid we had a little Emerson radio and that was it. We were more dedicated. We didn't have a choice.
Stan Getz

My dark sound could be heard across a room clearer than somebody with a reedy sound. It had more projection. My sound always seemed to fill a room.
Stan Getz

Records used to be documents, but now record companies want product.
Stan Getz

The saxophone is an imperfect instrument, especially the tenor and soprano, as far as intonation goes. The challenge is to sing on an imperfect instrument that is outside of your body.
Stan Getz


We made records to document ourselves, not to sell a lot of records. I still feel that way. I put out a record because I think it's beautiful, not necessarily commercial.
Stan Getz

You can read all the textbooks and listen to all the records, but you have to play with musicians that are better than you.
Stan Getz

You don't rehearse jazz to death to get the camera angles.
Stan Getz