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| Reed Rapture, 1941-1943 - The Complete MacGregor Transcriptions, Vol. 3 |
| Stan Kenton |
első megjelenés éve: 2003
62 perc |
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| (2003)
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CD |
| 3.819 Ft
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| 1. | Theme: Artistry in Rhythm
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| 2. | Popocatapetl
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| 3. | Cancel the Flowers
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| 4. | Underneath the Stars
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| 5. | Low Bridge
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| 6. | Would it Have Made Any Difference to You
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| 7. | Take the 'A' Train
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| 8. | Flamingo
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| 9. | Blues in F minor
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| 10. | Take it From the Oven
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| 11. | Taboo
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| 12. | Adios
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| 13. | This Love of Mine
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| 14. | The Nango
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| 15. | Gambler's Blues
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| 16. | Lamento Gitano
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| 17. | Reed Rapture
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| 18. | Concerto for Doghouse [A Setting in Motion]
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| 19. | El Choclo
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| 20. | Paper Doll
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| 21. | Eager Beaver
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| 22. | Shoo Shoo Baby
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| 23. | Liza
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Jazz / Progressive Jazz, Traditional Pop
Kenton, Stan, piano
Dorris, Red, vocals
Throughout his lengthy career as a bandleader (1940-1979), Stan Kenton always stood apart from the crowd. Rather than heading a swing-oriented big band that played for dancers, Kenton's goal was to lead a progressive jazz orchestra that performed at concerts. He encouraged adventurous arrangers to write for his band, enjoyed dissonant chord voicings and extreme sounds (including high-note trumpeters and thick-toned tenors), and prized originality over swinging although his band generally did swing too. A major force on the music scene for nearly four decades, Kenton gained a cult following early on, one that helped him survive the early struggling years.
Stan Kenton was born on 15 December 1911 in Wichita, Kansas. He played piano as a teenager and his main influence was Earl Hines although he was never a virtuoso on Hines' level. Living in Los Angeles in the 1930s, Kenton worked with several dance bands including those of Everett Hoagland (1934), Russ Plummer, and Gus Arnheim (1935-37), and he made his recording debut with Arnheim in 1937. He also recorded the following year with tenor-saxophonist Vido Musso (who later became his sideman) and Herb Jeffries, did some studio work and worked with a pit orchestra at Earl Carroll's Theatre in Hollywood. In the autumn of 1940, Kenton began leading a rehearsal band for which he wrote the arrangements and played piano, recording some test pressings in November, the earliest documentation of the band.
Starting on 31 May 1941, the orchestra played five nights a week throughout the summer at the Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa near Los Angeles. During this time the orchestra built up an enthusiastic following and began recording transcriptions for the McGregor company. Although these sound like radio broadcasts since they often employ the announcing of Jimmy Lyons (the future founder of the Monterey Jazz Festival) and have boisterous applause from invited guests and fans, these are essentially studio performances. Due to its success at Balboa, Kenton's band generated enough attention to be signed to the Decca label, resulting in four titles on 11 September 1941 and five others on 13 February 1942 but none of those records sold that well.
After the Balboa engagement ended, the Kenton orchestra performed throughout Los Angeles at various venues including five weeks at the Hollywood Palladium, heading East for the first time in early-1942. The band toured the East Coast for eighteen months with ups and downs along the way but gaining new fans. After returning to Los Angeles in June 1943, Kenton's orchestra became the house band for Bob Hope's radio series but this association ended up being unsatisfactory with Kenton stuck playing straight man to Hope and his orchestra not being featured very much. However on 18 November 1943 Kenton recorded for the first time for the Capitol label (an association that would last 25 years) and the four songs cut that day included Kenton's theme Artistry In Rhythm and his first hit, Eager Beaver. The Stan Kenton orchestra was now on its way.
On five CDs, of which this the third, Naxos is reissuing all of Kenton's MacGregor transcrip-tions in chronological order. This set begins with the final ten MacGregor titles of 1941-42. Stan Kenton fans expecting to hear the band's trademarks of screaming trumpets, brassy trombones and cool-toned saxophonists will be surprised because the early Kenton Orchestra had a different sound altogether. While the rhythm section swung lightly, the emphasis was on the reed section, particularly the altos of Jack Ordean and Bill Lahey. The key soloists were the swing-oriented trumpeter Chico Alvarez and tenor-saxophonist Red Dorris, with the latter also contributing ballad vocals. A quick verbal introduction by Jimmy Lyons precedes a brief version of Kenton's theme Artistry In Rhythm from November 1941. Popocatapetl is a medium-tempo dance band number, Dorris' sentimental vocal dominates Cancel The Flowers and Underneath The Stars is an instrumental ballad. Ralph Yaw contributed some arrange-ments to Kenton's early book including his medium-tempo original Low Bridge. Take The ‘A' Train (which has Alvarez sticking close to Ray Nance's original recorded solo) and Flamingo (with Red Dorris emulating Herb Jeffries) are similar to the famous recordings of Duke Ellington. Blues In F Minor and particularly Take It From The Oven feature the band swinging in its own fashion.
Cuts 11-19 are the band's Decca studio dates and, with the exception of Joe Rizzo's writing on El Choclo and This Love Of Mine, all of the arrangements are by Kenton. Preceding by nearly six years the orchestra's pioneering efforts in performing Afro-Cuban jazz, Taboo and Adios (the latter a hit for Glenn Miller) features the band performing Spanish melodies although without Latin rhythms. This Love Of Mine is a likable ballad vocal feature for Red Norris while The Nañgo is an intriguing and advanced instrumental. The second Decca date begins with Gambler's Blues, an adaptation of "St. James Infirmary," a piece that would remain in Kenton's repertoire for the next fifteen years. Howard Rumsey's prominent bass playing hints at the virtuosity that would be heard when Ed Safranski was in the band in 1945; Alvarez's trumpet solo is one of his best. Lamento Gitano has the band playing another Latin-flavored number. Reed Rapture is an atmospheric work-out for the sax section; no brass instruments appear on this track. Concerto For Doghouse puts Rumsey in the spotlight during an era when bass features (other than Jimmy Blanton with Ellington) were extremely rare. El Choclo gives the band an opportunity to stretch out a bit although, even on this swinging piece, the harmonies are dense, moderately dissonant and mildly unsettling. Clearly, Stan Kenton did not want to have a conventional swing band.
The final four selections on this release are from 3 November 1943, sixteen days before the band's breakthrough Capitol session. The trumpet section had grown from three to five and only four musicians had survived the upheavals of the past two years: trombonist Harry Forbes, Red Dorris, baritonist Bob Gioga and Kenton himself. Paper Doll is swung with spirit, Shoo Shoo Baby is a feature for the band's first female vocalist, Dolly Mitchell, and Liza is what used to be called a "killer diller."
Of greatest interest is the earliest existing version of Eager Beaver, the song that first made Stan Kenton into a household name and a jazz legend. 36 years of musical accomplish-ments lie ahead, but it is clear from hearing the music in this valuable series that Kenton was an original from the start.
---Scott Yanow, author of seven jazz books including Classic Jazz (which covers the 1920s), Swing and Trumpet Kings
Stan Kenton
Active Decades: '30s, '40s, '50s, '60s and '70s
Born: Dec 15, 1911 in Wichita, KS
Died: Aug 25, 1979 in Los Angeles, CA
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Big Band, Progressive Jazz, Traditional Pop
There have been few jazz musicians as consistently controversial as Stan Kenton. Dismissed by purists of various genres while loved by many others, Kenton ranks up there with Chet Baker and Sun Ra as jazz's top cult figure. He led a succession of highly original bands that often emphasized emotion, power, and advanced harmonies over swing, and this upset listeners who felt that all big bands should aim to sound like Count Basie. Kenton always had a different vision.
Kenton played in the 1930s in the dance bands of Vido Musso and Gus Arnheim, but he was born to be a leader. In 1941 he formed his first orchestra, which later was named after his theme song "Artistry in Rhythm." A decent Earl Hines-influenced pianist, Kenton was much more important in the early days as an arranger and inspiration for his loyal sidemen. Although there were no major names in his first band (bassist Howard Rumsey and trumpeter Chico Alvarez come the closest), Kenton spent the summer of 1941 playing regularly before a very appreciative audience at the Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa Beach, CA. Influenced by Jimmie Lunceford (who, like Kenton, enjoyed high-note trumpeters and thick-toned tenors), the Stan Kenton Orchestra struggled a bit after its initial success. Its Decca recordings were not big sellers and a stint as Bob Hope's backup radio band was an unhappy experience; Les Brown permanently took Kenton's place.
By late 1943 with a Capitol contract, a popular record in "Eager Beaver," and growing recognition, the Stan Kenton Orchestra was gradually catching on. Its soloists during the war years included Art Pepper, briefly Stan Getz, altoist Boots Mussulli, and singer Anita O'Day. By 1945 the band had evolved quite a bit. Pete Rugolo became the chief arranger (extending Kenton's ideas), Bob Cooper and Vido Musso offered very different tenor styles, and June Christy was Kenton's new singer; her popular hits (including "Tampico" and "Across the Alley From the Alamo") made it possible for Kenton to finance his more ambitious projects. Calling his music "progressive jazz," Kenton sought to lead a concert orchestra as opposed to a dance band at a time when most big bands were starting to break up. By 1947 Kai Winding was greatly influencing the sound of Kenton's trombonists, the trumpet section included such screamers as Buddy Childers, Ray Wetzel, and Al Porcino, Jack Costanzo's bongos were bringing Latin rhythms into Kenton's sound, and a riotous version of "The Peanut Vendor" contrasted with the somber "Elegy for Alto." Kenton had succeeded in forming a radical and very original band that gained its own audience.
In 1949 Kenton took a year off. In 1950 he put together his most advanced band, the 39-piece Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra that included 16 strings, a woodwind section, and two French horns. Its music ranged from the unique and very dense modern classical charts of Bob Graettinger to works that somehow swung despite the weight. Such major players as Maynard Ferguson (whose high-note acrobatics set new standards), Shorty Rogers, Milt Bernhart, John Graas, Art Pepper, Bud Shank, Bob Cooper, Laurindo Almeida, Shelly Manne, and June Christy were part of this remarkable project, but from a commercial standpoint, it was really impossible. Kenton managed two tours during 1950-1951 but soon reverted to his usual 19-piece lineup. Then quite unexpectedly, Kenton went through a swinging period. The charts of such arrangers as Shorty Rogers, Gerry Mulligan, Lennie Niehaus, Marty Paich, Johnny Richards, and particularly Bill Holman and Bill Russo began to dominate the repertoire. Such talented players (in addition to the ones already named) as Lee Konitz, Conte Candoli, Sal Salvador, Stan Levey, Frank Rosolino, Richie Kamuca, Zoot Sims, Sam Noto, Bill Perkins, Charlie Mariano, Mel Lewis, Pete Candoli, Lucky Thompson, Carl Fontana, Pepper Adams, and Jack Sheldon made strong contributions. The music was never predictable and could get quite bombastic, but it managed to swing while still keeping the Kenton sound.
Kenton's last successful experiment was his mellophonium band of 1960-1963. Despite the difficulties in keeping the four mellophoniums (which formed their own separate section) in tune, this particular Kenton orchestra had its exciting moments. However from 1963 on, the flavor of the Kenton big band began to change. Rather than using talented soloists, Kenton emphasized relatively inexpensive youth at the cost of originality. While the arrangements (including those of Hank Levy) continued to be quite challenging, after Gabe Baltazar's "graduation" in 1965, there were few new important Kenton alumni (other than Peter Erskine and Tim Hagans). For many of the young players, touring with Kenton would be the high point of their careers rather than just an important early step. Kenton Plays Wagner (1964) was an important project, but by then the bandleader's attention was on jazz education. By conducting a countless number of clinics and making his charts available to college and high-school stage bands, Kenton insured that there would be many bands that sounded like his, and the inverse result was that his own young orchestra sounded like a professional college band! Kenton continued leading and touring with his big band up until his death in 1979.
Kenton recorded for Capitol for 25 years (1943-1968) and in the 1970s formed his Creative World label to reissue most of his Capitol output and record his current band. In recent times Capitol has begun reissuing Kenton's legacy on CD and there have been two impressive Mosaic box sets.
---Scott Yanow, All Music Guide |
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