I cannot play a lie. I have to believe in what I play or it won't come out.

- Stan Getz

The saxophone is actually a translation of the human voice, in my conception. All you can do is play melody. No matter how complicated it gets, it'…

- Stan Getz

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

- Stan Getz

Other than conversation, no other art form can give the satisfaction of spontaneous interaction like Jazz.

- Stan Getz

It’s like a language. You learn the alphabet, which are the scales. You learn sentences, which are the chords. And then you talk extemporaneously wit…

- Stan Getz

The value of jazz still has to be clarified. People involve themselves with its superficialities without digging for its soul.

- Stan Getz

You know, when I'm playing, I think of myself in front of the Wailing Wall with a saxophone in my hands, and I'm davening, I'm really telling it to t…

- Stan Getz

There are four qualities essential to a great jazzman. they are taste, courage, individuality, and irreverence.

- Stan Getz

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

- Stan Getz