Stan Getz was born in Philadelphia in 1927, his first real breakthrough came when he recorded an album for Woody Herman called "early autumn" when he was just 21. I think that this album captured his first maturity as a soloist characterized by a hard, pure, perfectly controlled sound mainly on the high register of the Tenor saxophone.
Soon after he demonstrated another characteristic, if not considered a pacesetter he was always alert to changes in fashion, if only as means of keeping stagnation at bay and he ceded nothing to Miles Davis as a spotter of talent.
He spent a couple of years moving around in quartets that nurtured the refinements in his own playing, soon after that he hired a pianist called Horace Silver, who was at that time a unknown player and he pushed Getz into a more forceful style.
In the next few years, he appeared in all manner of contexts leading an excellent quartet with Gary Burton on the vibraphone and touring with French organist Eddie Louiss. Classic recordings of his include: