Contemporary Jazz on the Wings of Jazz History

For this special concert, the Jan Harbeck Quartet will perform some of the most well-known and beloved songs from Stan Getz's repertoire.

The occasion is that in 2020 Jan Harbeck was lucky and privileged enough to buy Stan Getz's fine old saxophone – a Selmer Balanced Action tenor saxophone. Stan Getz lived in Denmark from 1958 to 1961 and sold the saxophone in 1960.

Aarhus Jazz Festival has its own history with American Stan Getz, who headlined the very first edition of the festival in 1989. This year, those historical events converge at a concert with Jan Harbeck, who, with the spirit of Stan Getz in his saxophone, will interpret Getz classics as well as perform his own take on today's jazz sound.

Jan Harbeck says:

"It is truly an honor and a great pleasure to have the opportunity to play such an exquisite instrument as Stan Getz's old saxophone. It sounds so beautiful and is so alive. When it's a master like Stan Getz who chose the saxophone back in the day, it goes without saying that it's just a fantastic instrument. And it has been inspired first by Stan Getz and then by the older gentleman I bought it from. He had the saxophone for 60 years and loved it unconditionally. He wanted to make sure that I would love it as much as he did before I was allowed to buy it, as he didn't want to sell it to a collector who might not play it.

I have always been deeply captivated by the depth of Stan Getz's music, by the beauty and superior instrumental mastery. Not to mention the personal signature sound he had. The fact that you can always recognize after a second – it's Stan Getz!

Just when I had started playing saxophone, Stan Getz recorded the album People Time at Jazzhus Montmartre with pianist Kenny Barron, and I remember sitting in my room in Aalborg as a teenager listening to the concert live on P2. It really left a deep impression on me, and we'll also be playing some tracks from that album. Also, one of his early tunes from his time with Woody Herman and an Antonio Carlos Jobim composition from Stan Getz's bossa nova period. We've arranged the tracks to fit the sound of our quartet, and we're very much looking forward to playing them for you at Aarhus Jazz Festival." 

The concert will also feature music from the Jan Harbeck Quartet's latest album Balanced, which was recorded on Stan Getz's saxophone, and the line-up is the same as on the other five albums the quartet has released.

The fine hall in Helsingør Theater (Den Gamle By, Aarhus) is perfect for the quartet's specialty of playing 100 percent acoustic, where nothing stands between the audience and the musicians. Look forward to a very special evening with tones of both contemporary jazz music and jazz history.'

Read more about Jan Harbeck Quartet – Stan Getz’ tenorsax