Stan Getz recorded these sessions for Prestige between 1950 and 1951 in New York. The quintet includes musicians such as Horace Silver on piano, Jimmy Raney on guitar, Leonard Gaskin on bass, and Roy Haynes on drums. This album compiles tracks from several sessions.
The album presents a more complex sound than the quartet, with arrangements integrating Raney's guitar. The recordings were originally released on 78 rpm and later compiled into an LP by Prestige in 1951.
Stan Getz Quintets is an example of the development of cool jazz on the East Coast. Although not a major success, it is valued by critics for the interaction between Getz and Raney, and for the quality of the compositions.