Stanley Gayetsky (aka Stan Getz) (1927 in Philadelphia - 1991 in Malibu, California) was born to Russian-Jewish parents and raised in New York City, Getz played a number of instruments before his father bought him his first saxophone at the age of 13. In 1943, he was accepted into Jack Teagarden's band. After playing in various bands (1944 Stan Kenton; 1945 Jimmy Dorsey; 1945–46 Benny Goodman), Getz became known as a soloist in the Woody Herman Band from 1947–49. He scored a hit with his melodic and lyrical solo on Ralph Burns's Early Autumn. With few exceptions, Getz would be a leader on all of his recording sessions after 1950.