STAN KENTON

1. Young Blood - "Retrospective"
2. Swing House

September 8, 10, 11, 15, or "16", 1952

 LINER NOTES

Throughout the ten years of the Kenton Orchestra's life its music has gradually changed-with accumulated knowledge, experimentation, and association - to bring the listener an ever fresh approach.

This album discloses even more exciting developments in the orchestra's brilliant sound. Masterful musicians like first trumpeter Buddy Childers, first trombonist Bob Burgess, first saxophonist Vinni Dean, and drummer Stan Levey give it the mark of their personalities; and above all stands the dynamic quality of Stan Kenton, inspiring his orchestra and, indeed, a whole profession - -carrying the vibrant message of his music to hosts of eager listeners everywhere.

The format for this album was sketched by Kenton himself, and his staff arrangers have developed and interpreted his ideas with rare skill and understanding. New Concepts of Artistry in Rhythm is a tribute to these men of the modern school whose stature is ever increasing. It is their ingenuity and creative ability that is directing the course of tomorrow's music.

young bloodComposer: Gerry Mulligan
Stemming from the pen of one of the leaders in the field of contemporary music, this is a living example of modern "big band jazz." Utilizing a linear style of composition, Mulligan possesses a facility for writing easy, happy swing, and is destined to achieve even greater importance in American jazz.

RETROSPECTIVE

D I S C 2

1950-1954

If Stan Kenton had been genuinely entertaining thoughts of permanently leaving music they were effectively dissolved during the leisure months of 1949. Without the demands of "the country's biggest box-office aggregation" looming over his head, Stan and Violet decided on a cruise to South America followed by a measured vacation throughout the South. This, in turn, was succeeded by a duration spent in Southern California, well outside of the Los Angeles area.

During those months boredom had tip-toed in for Stan, then disillusionment. It had become evident, in spite of best efforts, that the marriage could not continue. And it prompted in Stan a re-evaluation and subsequent return to the realization that music was to be the focus of his life. He had accrued a considerable amount of money between 1946 and 1949 through the success of the band. He would now reinvest a substantial portion of it in an idea that aspired to bridge the chasm between classical music and jazz. Stan's impossible dream. The forty-piece Innovations orchestra.

When word hit the street of Kenton's new venture, competition quickly grew fierce among musicians and arrangers, all hoping for a piece of the challenge and the glory that had become attached to the Kenton name. When the arranging staff was finalized it included stalwarts Pete Rugolo, Bill Russo, and Bob Graettinger. The new guys consisted of Franklyn Marks, Johnny Richards, George Handy, Chico O'Farrill, Manny Albam George Russell, and semi-new guy Neil Hefti. Shorty Rogers came on the band as a trumpeter and was invited by Stan to compose and orchestrate, as was guitarist Laurindo Almeida.

Many of the old faces returned to the band. Bernhart, Betts, and Varsalona were joined in the trombone section by Bob Fitzpatrick and Bill Russo. Childers and Alvarez now shared the trumpet line with Don Palladino, Shorty Rogers, and an amazing 19-year-old named Maynard Ferguson. Art Pepper would cover the alto saxophone solos and double on clarinet. Bud Shank, lead alto and flute. Bob Cooper, tenor solos and oboe. Bart Caldarell on tenor and bassoon, and Bob Gioga on baritone and bass clarinet completed the reed section. Plus two French horns (a third would be added later), tuba, Laurindo Almeida's guitar, Don Bagley's bass, Shelly Manne's drums, Stan's piano, and a sixteen-piece string section.

After countless rehearsals the orchestra premiered at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Auditorium on Jan 30, 1950, to an audience that was alternately described as spellbound, dazzled, and delighted. The first recording sessions took place shortly thereafter at the Capitol Studios on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood on February 3rd. The works of Rugolo, Richards, Russo, O'Farrill, Almeida, and Kenton were recorded that day. Among the five compositions recorded the following day was a dazzling Franklyn Marks ' piece called, "Trajectories" from INNOVATIONS IN MODERN MUSIC Cap W-189, the orchestra's debut album. Marks was a native of Cleveland, Ohio who had attracted attention as an arranger for dance bands and radio in the late-1930s through the mid-1940s. Following his association with Kenton, he joined Walt Disney Studios (1955) where his orchestrations continue to live on in films like "One Hundred And One Dalmations," "Pollyanna," "The Absent Minded Professor," "That Darn Cat, " and "The Sword In The Stone . " He remained with Disney until his passing in 1976.

It was rumored that Eddie Sauter, famed arranger/composer for the bands of Red Norvo, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, etc., had wired Stan around this time expressing his desire to write for the Innovations orchestra. Kenton was somewhat vague on recounting the subject, and the telegram, if it existed, was said to have not been responded to. It is, however, interesting to speculate on the impact of the Innovationsw ork on Sauter and his own big band, The Sauter-Finegan Orchestra. Organized in 1952 with partner Bill Finegan, it used extended instrumentation (harp, orchestra chimes, assorted mallets and woodwinds ) and a very modern harmonic approach. The band's first RCA Victor album also carried the Kentonesque logo, "New Directions In Music. " In 1961, Sauter composed and arranged the classic "Focus" album for tenor saxophone legend Stan Getz, which took the traditional jazz-soloist-with-strings concept to new creative heights. One is struck by the similarity in Sauter's approach to writing for strings on the "Focus, " album, to that of Franklyn Marks ' on "Trajectories, " composed some 12 years earlier.

The February 5th sessions included a new original by Shorty Rogers that employed only the jazz core of the orchestra - reeds, brass and rhythm. "Jolly Rogers" Cap 1043 evidences the formulation of that peculiar point-of-view that was and is so uniquely Rogers ', and that would "short-ly" lead him to his merited status as one of the high practitioners of jazz on the West Coast.

The Innovations I tour kicked off on the West Coast in February, and by March had moved to a usually snowbound Minneapolis and points mid-country. Later, New England, and eventually to a two-night stand at New York's Carnegie Hall in April with both nights a sell-out. A balmy Saturday night in June at the Hollywood Bowl brought the Innovations' first season to a close.

Prior to this final performance, and upon arriving back in Los Angeles, the orchestra assembled at the Melrose Avenue studios to record Shorty Rogers' tour de force for Stan's reigning alto saxophone star, Art Pepper, appropriately entitled, "Art Pepper" from KENTON PRESENTS Cap T-248. Rogers fondly remembers this as being his first opportunity to write an extended work for an expanded orchestra, and a feature for a soloist that he knew and admired.

As successful as this unprecedented tour had been, the sheer magnitude of the enterprise left Stan in a hole for something approaching 125,000 1950-dollars. In an attempt to recoup some of his losses, he dismantled all but the 19 -piece jazz nucleus and opened for business at the Rendezvous Ballroom for the entire summer.

Back on familiar turf and distanced, somewhat, from more elevated endeavors, Stan re-recognized the importance of maintaining the band's profile with the nation's disc jockeys . The Innovations repertoire had not been received favorably at radio. The Al Jarvis' and Martin Block's (leading d.j.s of the day) were not enamoured with the music, and certainly not in a hurry to test the loyalty of their audiences by programming a "Trajectories" in-between Perry Como's "Hoop-Dee-Doo" and Frankie Laine's "Cry Of The Wild Goose, " two big radio favorites that year. To re-establish the band's presence at radio, Stan and Capitol wisely chose a teaming with labelmate and friend Nat "King " Cole. Stan and Nat had shared Carlos Gastel's management services during their simultaneous rise at Capitol and had worked together on a number of occasions, including the aforementioned Paramount Theatre gig. Nat had twenty-six chart records to his credit by this time, three of which were huge hits ( "I Love You For Sentimental Reasons, "Nature Boy" and "Mona Lisa" ) . Pete Rugolo, who had scored some of Nat's earlier recordings, including the classic "Lush Life", provided the arrangement and "Orange-Colored Sky" Cap 1184 was recorded (8/15/50). The record was an immediate smash, soaring to #5 in Billboard with a lengthy 14 -week chart life.

The recording schedule for the remainder of '50 would be light and un-concert-like, excepting for an August 24th session that re-united the Innovations string section with the jazz band for Bob Graettinger's "House Of Strings, " issued as part of the KENTON PRESENTS album. A September 12th session on Melrose Avenue produced four masters . Pete Rugolo's arrangement of Cole Porter's "Love For Sale" Cap 1236 quickly became a favorite in the Kenton repetoire, and was later performed with the full 40-piece ochestra on the Innovations II tour.

The date also manifested the Shoryy Rogers' original, "Viva Prado, " Cap 1279, named in honor of Cuban bandleader Perez Prado. Prado, like Machito, was an overt Kenton fan, and patterned his band in that direction. He eventually became the most prominent exponent of the mambo/Afro-Cuban dance movement of the 1950s, and chalking up extraordinary success with a series of records for RCA Victor between 1953 and 1958, led by the international anthem of the period, "Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White"

The remainder of 1950 was played out on what Stan was calling "a dance band tour" - a series of one-nighters and short engagements that concentrated on the more conventional aspects of the Kenton band, conceived in an effort to reclaim the audiences and disc jockeys alienated by the Innovations push. Still, the year's popularity polls continued favorably with the band taking top honors at Downbeat, Rugolo winning Best Arranger awards at Downbeat and Metronome, and June, Shelly, and Maynard all taking first place in their respective categories at Downbeat.

January and February of '51 continued to see the band on the dance circuit, in a swing that covered Niagra Falls to Los Angeles. On March 20th, a session in Hollywood would deliver the kind of resurgence at radio that Stan had been looking for. It was a simple arrangement of his that omitted the screaming trumpet section (replaced by a muted Ray Wetzel), and featured a unison vocal by the band on the relatively new, "September Song" Cap 1480. The record spent a respectable eleven weeks on the charts, peaking at #17 during the week of April 28th. Eight days later the band returned to record a riff item co-authored by Stan and Art Pepper entitled "Dynaftow" Cap 1535. It featured a primed Art Pepper in a performance with the band that is seldom heard.

On May 28th, the "September Song" formula was re-tested on the David Raksin/Johnny Mercer film theme. "Laura." Again it worked, and for five weeks in July and August the record appeared in Billboard reaching a high of #12. September 20th would be a special day at the Melrose Avenue studio. Although possibly not realized at the time, it was June Christy's final recording session with the band of her mentor, boss and friend. She would re-join the orchestra in seven days for the Innovations II tour, replace Chris Connor on Kenton's '53 tour of Europe, record the DUET album in '55 with Stan at the piano, and tour and record "live and in-concert" with Kenton and the Four Freshman in '59, but this was, in fact, her last studio session with the Kenton band.

Three songs were chosen. All were arrangements that had been in the book for awhile. The first was a Rugolo chart written for June during the reign of the Progressive Jazz orchestra - "Come Rain Or Come Shine." Paul Villepique contributed his only recorded arrangement for Kenton with "Daddy." An item that featured June assisted by a band vocal. Gene Roland's mid-40s-vintage chart on "Easy Street," and not issued by Capitol in the U.S., completed the set. Pete Rugolo commented on "Easy Street." "She did it all the time with the band ...I had to re-write that arrangement a couple of times ...She made an album called "June Christy Recalls Those Kenton Days" so I re-wrote it ...It was originally a Gene Roland chart, and a good one, too. She liked doing that ...That was big ...People liked that arrangement." "Innovations in Modern Music II" commenced in Dallas, Texas on September 27th, worked its way across the country and back again, concluding at the Shrine Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles on November 30, 1951. As the curtain came down on the most expansive and expensive undertaking the jazz world had ever seen, Stan reflected discouragement. The complexities of shifting forty musicians about the country for three months at a time were awesome. Stan took a personal loss of $200,000. The concerts were very successful in the urban areas, but throughout the rest of the country the formality of the new music was undermining interest in the band from the younger and usually most enthusiastic fans. And it had turned out to be the most time consuming project of Stan's career. However, when the results of the '51 reader's popularity polls came in, the Kenton band, Rugolo, Christy, Ferguson, and Marine had all ditto-ed their 1950 honors, in spite of the year's disappointments.

Interestingly, with all of this reality and disillusionment squarely in Stan's face he, nevertheless, took the full Innovations orchestra into the studio for one last mammoth session. Bob Graettinger's massive suite, CITY OF GLASS Cap H-353 had been written for the Progressive Jazz band shortly before its breakup. Bob had now re-arranged it to include strings. It was then and remains today the most controversial of all the pieces written for the most controversial of all jazz orchestras.

A fascinatingly abstract and chilling work that utilized very little in the way of acknowledged jazz elements, it was described as "a composition that suggested a city in which structures are shapes of musical sound, transparent and in constant motion, so that through one can be seen the outlines of the others. The work's development covers the passing of a single day. The various textures of the instruments chosen to produce the tonal skyscrapers, seem to describe the reflections of the days changing illumination." 'The second movement, "Dance Before The Mirror," comes closest to swinging, and takes place in a maze of midday light. The structures are now seen through rapidly changing perspectives as though one were viewing them while whirling around in a spirited dance before a huge mirror. There is a frenzied climax, then abrupt silence."

When the band was reorganized in January of '52 many of the major players (Sherry Rogers, Bud Shank, Art Pepper, Bob Cooper, Milt Bernhart, and Shelly Marine) could not be persuaded to return. They remained in Los Angeles, seduced by the area's low-cost living, abundant studio work, and relaxed lifestyle. Throughout the first six months of the year, the new personnel shifted considerably. Stan was determined to stock this new band with serious jazz musicians - inveterate swingers and hard-core new-jazz players. By September, everyone was in place for the first album.

'The solo chairs were now being manned by tenorist Richie Kamuca, trumpeter Conte Candoli, trombonist Frank Rosolino, guitarist Sal Salvador, and Maynard Ferguson. The drum chair was filled by a young Philadelphian who had come to New York in the mid-1940s and built a reputation on 52nd Street as an early and important practitioner of bop, Stan Levey. On alto, replacing Art Pepper, was a brilliant individualist named Lee Konitz who was perhaps the most-talked-about young alto saxophonist, outside of Bird, during the late-40s/early-50s. The arrangements were contributed by Johnny Richards, Bob Graettinger, Bill Holman (also holding down a tenor chair), Gerry Mulligan (who was about to burst onto the scene with Chet Baker and their legendary quartet), and Bill Russo who, for all intent and purposes, was inheriting the responsibilities of chief arranger from Pete Rugolo who had first brought him to Stan's attention in 1948.

In his 1960 edition of the "Encyclopedia Of Jazz, " Leonard Feather lists NEW CONCEPTS OF ARTISTRY IN RHYTHM Cap T 383 in the Contemporary division of his "Recommended Jazz Records" section. From that album Gerry Mulligan's "Youngblood" was one of about a half-dozen charts commissioned by Stan from Gerry. Critics of the period seemed to voice universal approval of the record, often citing it as an example of the Kenton band at its best.

The most unique composition to come from the album was "23° North - 82° West," and in author Bill Russo's words, "is thought of as the most Kenton-like of all my pieces for the Kenton orchestra." Russo credits the construction of the composition largely to certain writing techiques he developed while studying with Lennie Tristano in Chicago during the mid-1940s. The title represents the coordinates for a pre-embargoed Havana, Cuba. "Invention For Guitar And Trumpet" was Bill Holman's first recorded chart for the band, and written for the album at the suggestion, by Stan, of a showcase for Maynard Ferguson and Sal Salvador. Holman recalled, "talking about some polychordal things ( with Sal) that I managed to get into that chart . I was just trying ideas, some that I didn't use too much later on. That's an advantage of being young - to try out as many things as you can. " It remains one of his best known originals, furthered, no doubt, by its appearance in the original 1955 film classic, "Blackboard Jungle. "

Following the NEW CONCEPTS sessions, the orchestra headed out on an eight-week tour of the Midwest and the East in a package tagged "The Biggest Show of 52. " Headlining with Stan were Nat "King" Cole and Sarah Vaughan . Back in June, Stan had gone to contract with NBC for a series of nightly radio remotes from wherever the band was appearing. It was the first continuing jazz broadcast by network radio, and encompassed nightly remotes from the tour's jammed auditoriums . Audiences continued to register their approval on the ballot form as the year closed with Downbeat Magazine readers bestowing yet another Band Of The Year award on the orchestra.

With 1953 came singer Chris Connor on recommendation from June Christy who had heard her with the Jerry Wald band. Chris was the first singer to really fit with the Kenton band since June's departure. Jay Johnson, Kay Brown, and Jerri Winters had covered the interim with arguable success. Chris would soon make a series of excellent single-released recordings with Stan, however, January 28th and 29th were devoted to an instrumental album of standards that were arranged for the most part by Bill Russo, and issued as SKETCHES ON STANDARDS Cap T426. "Loverman," a feature for altoist Lee Konitz, was an arrangement that Russo labored lovingly and painstakingly on for his former high school chum and Tristano colleague. Lee loved the song and is as closely identified with it in jazz circles as Billie Holiday, who debuted it in 1945, owing to the frequency of his recording and performing of it. It would be a highlight of the band's upcoming initial tour of Europe.

The March through May itinerary included extended engagements at the Blue Note in Chicago and Birdland in New York. By May 25th the band had returned to Chicago for a session at Universal Studios that utilized two Russo charts for Chris Connor. "All About Ronnie" Cap 2511, although never making the bestseller lists, garnered considerable recognition among the hip and near-hip. It became a song most associated with Chris who, after leaving Stan in July, set out on a solo career. Shortly after signing with Bethlehem Records, Chris re-worked the song into a small group setting for her second LP. Over the next few years Chris would become a major jazz attraction, particularly with younger jazz audiences, in concerts, clubs, and on record.

July 8th was spent at Universal laying down eight fresh and striking charts on a new collection of standards. Obviously meant to be a sequel to the SKETCHES album, this package was issued as PORTRAITS ON STANDARDS Cap T-462. Several personnel changes had taken place between albums. Stan's long-time friend and colleague, Bob Gioga, who had been on the band from the very beginning, vacated the baritone chair because of illness. Maynard Ferguson had left at Stan's insistence. Stan believed he should be out on his own as a leader, so as to capitalize on his huge popularity, even though he was next to impossible to replace. Highnote powerhouse Ernie Royal succeeded in doing it for awhile. Possibly the most exciting news for the musicians themselves this year was the acquisition of ex- Hermanite and former-"Four Brothers" section-mate, tenorist Zoot Sims. Zoot joins Lee Konitz, Conte Candoli, and Don Bagley in solo appearances on Bill Russo's darkly swinging slant on the oldtimer, "Crazy Rhythm."

William "Bill" Russo commented recently in his notes to the Mosaic Records' boxed-set, STAN KENTON: THE COMPLETE CAPITOL RECORDINGS OF THE RUSSO AND HOLMAN CHARTS, regarding trombonist Frank Rosolino. "When he first became known in the 1950s, (he) opened up the technique of trombone playing. We were all staggered by what he could do, not only at the speed of his technique and that he played so well in the upper register, but that he had such incredible flexibility, which is to say that he could move from one note to the other so smoothly and effortlessly and that he could play over the entire range of the instrument with ease and with eveness of one." Rosolino illustrates Russo's remarks in his popular Russo-arranged feature from the period, "I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good."

Kenton's first European tour was set for late summer of '53. The band flew out on August 22nd, with June Christy replacing an ailing Chris Connor who was originally scheduled to participate. Their initial destination was Scandanavia, followed by Germany, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, France, and the British Isles. The tour was immensely successful. Melody Maker, the British music publication, ran a headline in the September 26th edition that read, "DUBLIN GOES KENTON CRAZY AS 7,000 FANS STORM CONCERT." The article went on to describe a city gone mad for fifteen hours while fans roamed the streets in clusters waving patriotic green programmes and hunting for Stan Kenton or members of his band. By early October, the group had returned triumphantly to the United States by way of New York City. Bill Russo exited the trombone section, and Barry Galbraith was now in on guitar for Sal Salvador as he had been since the beginning of the tour. The band settled in at Birdland for several weeks, simultaneous with Stan's induction into Downbeat's "Music Hall Of Fame." Readers' honored him as their third inductee, preceded only by Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.

Possibly in a bid for the title, "Touring King Of The Seven Continents" (we'll include Antarctica), the first "Festival Of Modern American Music" tour was arranged by Stan and his organization and would carry, in additon to the country's ongoing Number 1 band, June Christy, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Candido, Slim Gailliard, and Erroll Garner. It would commence in the East and terminate on the West Coast. As the year ended, another "Band Of The Year" award was bestowed on Stan by Downbeat readers. No sooner had 1954 begun when negotiations went into motion for the second leg of the "Festival Of Modern American Music," tour. Another superb line-up was set in place. June Christy returned. So did Gillespie and Candido, joined now by Charlie Parker, and Lee Konirz.

Recording had been sparse since July due to the heavy road activity. Their was one pop-oriented session on November 30th that yielded four masters, one of which was the very short-lived dance "sensation," "The Creep." It reached #28 on the Billboard charts for a week during the month of February. On March Ist the band assembled on Melrose Avenue to record four Bill Holman charts. Two were to feature Lee Konitz, already departed from the band, in encores of his tour performances. The remaining two were scheduled for Charlie Parker who was to "guest" on features that he had performed on the tour. Bird never showed so all four tracks went to Lee. "In Lighter Vein" is a brilliantly swinging Holman original written specifically for Lee who is in exceptional form here. Issued originally on a 10-inch album entitled KENTON SHOWCASE/THE MUSIC OF BILL HOLMAN Cap H-526, it was later combined with its companion issue KENTONSHOWCASE/THE MUSIC OF BILL RUSSO Cap H-525 in a 12-inch album, T589 (abridged) and W-524.

March 2nd and 3rd were reserved for the majority of the tracks that would comprise the SHOWCASE albums. "A Theme Of Four Values," one of the most performed of the concert pieces of this period, was from the Russo package, and featured trombonist Bob Fitzpatrick. "Fitz" would become a close and long-time friend and band member of Stan's, and is considered by many to be the quintessential Kenton trombonist. Light, loose, swinging and substantial, Bill Holman's "King Fish" is filled with the subtle, intelligent intricacies chat marked so much of his and Bill Russo's work with Kenton. The session of the 3rd sadly marked the last of the arrangements and/or compositions to be tendered by William "Bill" Russo. Of the five originals recorded that day, "Sweets" would likely qualify as the most performed and the most renowned.

Later in the month, Stan announced his decision to disband and take a long vacation, the first serious one since 1949. During that summer Capitol Records announced that Stan would be adding A & R responsibilities to his schedule through a series of records that hewould produce and they would release under the heading, "Stan Kenton Presents Jazz." The product featured primarily Kenton alumni in small group settings via albums and singles. The roster included Bill Holman, Frank Rosolino, Boots Mussulli, and the AI Belletto Sextet.

By September, a second "Festival Of Modern American Music" was being prepared. This time out piano genius Art Tatum and trio were aboard, as were Charlie Ventura's group, Shorty Rogers and the Giants with Shelly Marine, guitarist Johnny Smith, and the ever-present Candido.

1954 brought Stan his sixth Downbeat "Band Of'The Year" award. Metronome Magazine, the older and more traditional of the jazz publications, would re-board the Kenton bandwagon and present top leader honors to Stan for the first time since 1949.

• Limelight

July 20, 1955

 LINER NOTES

His men are topflight jazz musicians, one and all, whose playing reflects the understanding and the relaxed interpretation of a seasoned road band. The neatly organized ensemble sounds in each selection reflect the experience culled from scores of onenighters and locations from Bridgeport, Connecticut to Omaha, Nebraska.

With one exception this is a collection of contemporary variations on standard tunes. It is diverse music, wealthy with soloists and group performances, and with that particular brash, brooding quality for which Kenton fans have been clamoring since the first progressive sound emanated from Balboa's Rendezvous Ballroom.

Generally the melodic line has been abandoned in favor of isolated themes within the melody. These have been developed and embellished with rhythmic figures and contrapuntal solo and ensemble lines.

All the arrangements are by Bill Holman, except Limelight, a Gerry Mulligan composition. Designed according to Kenton's wishes the tunes are considerably longer than most recorded versions, sometimes dedicating an entire selection to one solo, sometimes showcasing several soloists or the ensemble work of the orchestra.

The album swings open with What's New?, displaying some spirited ensemble work by the whole band, and featuring the tenor saxophone of Bill Perkins, the trumpet of Sam Noto, the alto saxophone of Lennie Niehaus, and the trombone of Kent Larsen. The dusky beginning of Stella by Starlight offers a radical change of pace. The melodic line is closely followed, with Charlie Mariano's alto saxophone lovingly brooding over it. Then the whole group takes hold, and Stella, Starlight, and melody are turned into fine, high-flying jazz.

I've Got You Under My Skin features six Kenton soloists. Opening with the baritone saxophone of Don Davidson, it features Stu Williamson's trumpet, the tenor saxophone of Dave Van Kriedt, then Charlie Mariano and Sam Noto, and some fiery drumming by Mel Lewis.

Cherokee is a cheery vehicle for Lennie Niehaus and his alto saxophone. The abstract melodic line and the light, swinging beat combine to create happy jazz. Stompin' at the Savoy has been a standby in jazz books of every school, and here it's refurbished by some latter-day arranging that makes it an even more exciting piece than it was before. Close ensemble work punctuates the work of the soloists Max Bennett's bass, the guitar of Ralph Blaze, and Stu Williamson, Bill Perking and Mel Lewis.

In the plaintive Yesterdays, Bill Perkins' tenor saxophone lingers wistfully over the melody, then the whole orchestra takes it up and everybody reminisces about some sad and lovely time long, long gone by. The Mulligan Limelight accents ensemble work by the orchestra, with a sailing trombone solo played by Carl Fontana, and drumming by Mel Lewis.

1. Swing House - Stanford U. Palo Alto CA (May, 1955)
2. Walkin' Shoes - Fort Ord Monterey CA (May, 1955)
3. Young Blood - Cornell University (April, 1953)
4. Limelight - Eastman Theatre Rochester NY (November, 1953)

• Walking Shoes

Ukiah - February, 1959

 LINER NOTES

The seventeen tracks contained on this compact disc come from seventeen separate concerts Issued on seventeen previous Status compact discs, and give a chronological overview of Stans' career, as available on Status compact discs. The bonus track Mack The Knife has not appeared on compact disc before and comes from Stans' appearance at the Sunset Ridge Country Club, Chicago, Illinois. on the 23rd of May 1976. Mack the Knife will shortly appear on a double compact disc re-packaging of the Sunset Ridge concert on the Magic Label. The package will also contain three other tracks previously omitted from that concert, Malaguena, When I Fall In Love and Heres That Rainy Day.

• Too Marvelous For Words

July 13, 1952

 LINER NOTES

These were the glory days for Kenton, his band packed with stellar sidemen, and a universal acceptance that would never be quite the same again, once public tastes in popular music had changed for ever in the coming years. This Snyder Show is especially interesting because it includes some seldom-played charts, like the lovely Moonlight In Vermont, never studio-recorded. In Lee Konitz' opinion "Some of the nicest writing that Russo ever did were those standards for the dance library," and Vermont illustrates Russo's rare gift of enhancing the melody while weaving well-suited solo statements throughout his musical tapestry.

Another uncommon chart is Gerry Mulligan's arrangement of Too Marvellous For Words. According to legend, because Stan and Gerry did not see eye to eye on the performance of Mulligan's jazz compositions, Kenton "demoted" him to the dance library, but original or standard, Gerry's scores were always well appreciated by musicians and fans alike. This is the only known Kenton recording of the Perez Prado monster hit Mambo Jambo, featuring the vibraphone, an instrument almost unknown in a Kenton context. If Bill Holman had not decided on orchestration as a career, his thoughtful, elegant solo on Yesterdays indicates he could have become a major league player on the tenor saxophone. Well recorded, and beautifully performed

throughout, this Snyder Show is destined to become one of the classic Kenton broadcasts happily preserved for posterity. The second half of this CD is made up of selected tracks from 1951, when the orchestra played the week of July 2-8 at "picturesque Avalon, in the Catalina Island Casino Ballroom, 22 miles out in the blue Pacific," from which location most of the titles emanate Amazingly, there had been only two personnel changes in the five months since the March 1951 Hollywood Palladium engagement (where the closing Round Robin was recorded on March 25), according to Shelly Manne because the guys believed so strongly in Stan's aims to promote a better grade of music.

The four Rugolo arrangements all date back to 1947/48, and were revived by Stan because of their distinctive interpretations of standard melodies. Even the original Pepper Pot is based on the chords of "Fine And Dandy", written to showcase the fluency and improvisational skills of the incomparable Art Pepper. When Your Lover Has Gone is typically Rugolo-inventive, and features an intriguing trombone/alto duet between Harry Betts and Bud Shank, on either side of a liquid tenor solo from Bob Cooper. The alternate takes provide an absorbing opportunity to compare how the soloists' extemporizations differ on the two dates.

Many of the newer arrangements were coming from Shorty Rogers, a prolific writer whose talent was at its finest during these earlier years. Round Robin has picked up tempo since the original recording, as often happens when a bop/swing chart is played frequently. Later in the year, the theme will emerge in a new guise for the 1951 Innovations Orchestra, renamed "Conte Candoli" after its featured soloist. What's New was one of several scores Rogers wrote at Stan's behest, to highlight the unrivalled tonal range of the band's popular megastar trumpet player Maynard Ferguson. Much of it is in the upper stratosphere, though Maynard commented : "On What's New I played just as I felt, and people were surprised to hear I could play also in the lower register."

The music throughout this CD is Kenton at his peak, playing the kind of jazz that built his reputation and which propelled his orchestra forever into a top position among America's immortal big bands.

Michael Sparke.

1. Swinghouse - April 2, 1953

   Bob Burgess, Conte Candoli, Buddy Childers, Vinnie Dean, Don Dennis, Bill Holman, Richie Kamuca, Lee Konitz, Hank Levey, Stan Levey, Keith Moon, George Roberts, Glen Roberts, Frank Rosolino, Ernie Royal, Sal Salvador, Tom Shepard, Don Smith
   
   

2. Young Blood - September 2, 1952

   Don Bagley, Bob Burgess, Conte Candoli, Buddy Childers, Vinnie Dean, Don Dennis, Maynard Ferguson, Bob Gioga, Bill Holman, Richie Kamuca, Lee Konitz, Stan Levey, Ruben McFall, Keith Moon, George Roberts, Frank Rosolino, Bill Russo, Sal Salvador

• Walking Shoes

Orchestra:
Jim Amlotte, Bud Brisbois, Jimmy Campbell, Pete Chivily, Rolf Ericson, Marvin Holladay, Stan Kenton, Bob Knight, Kent Larsen, Archie LeCoQue, Charlie Mariano, Bill Mathieu, Roger Middleton, Jack Nimitz, Mike Pacheco, Don Sebesky, Dalton Smith, Bill Trujillo, Ronnie Trujillo, Rubin Trujillo

The Four Freshmen:
Kan Albers, Don Barbour, Ross Barbour, Bob Flanagan

Purdue - October 10, 1959

LINER NOTES

On the night of Saturday, October 10, 1959, more than twelve thousand people braved a pouring rainstorm in Lafayette, Indiana, to hear memorable performances by Stan Kenton's Orchestra, June Christy, and the Four Freshmen. Filling the more than six thousand seats of the vast Music Hall at Purdue University for two consecutive shows, audiences were treated to an evening of the finest modern music available anywhere.

The fine acoustical properties of the Music Hall governed Capitol's choice of Purdue night as the time to record highlights of the cross-country tour. The hall permitted studio-like quality of recorded sound; and the large, appreciative audience provided the enthusiasm and spirit that helped these musicians and singers to deliver the outstanding performances heard in this album.

One of the many who ventured out on this night, in defiance of the elements, was Mr. Bill Peeples, columnist and critic for the Louisville Times. He comments:

"By the time this show hit Purdue University on October 10, it had really jelled and the stage was set, for the recording session that produced this album.

"Touring and starring with Kenton were June Christy, who got her start with the band in the mid-40's, and the Four Freshmen, whom Stan also helped up the ladder to recognition. The band Kenton had for this tour was one of his finer ones. The section work was crisp and dynamic, the rhythm section loose and driving. The show was on the road from September 28 through November 4, and from its first concert date at Murray State College in Kentucky to its last one at Boston, it played with the disciplined power and cohesion that Kenton has always demanded and usually succeeds in getting.

"The people who filled Purdue's Edward C. Elliott Hall of Music to capacity on this particular night were in a happy frame of mind. It was a football weekend on the campus and that afternoon Purdue had defeated Wisconsin for the first time since 1945.

"In the first set, Kenton served a mixture of old standbys from his book and a few new things, including the haunting, baroque Marty Paich arrangement of My Old Flame. The set closed at a gallop with a piece called The Big Chase, in which drummer Jimmy Campbell and Mike Pacheco on the Cuban drums engaged in a lengthy percussion discourse that rolled along on waves of applause from the audience.

"Then Christy came on. June had what Stan calls her "road voice" - even huskier than usual this time because of a cold. There were some rough edges. But the polish and precision that can be achieved in a studio recording session were well compensated for by the immediacy and presence of the live performance. June can project as much sex with her voice as any girl singer in the business. And she has an instinctive feeling for jazz phrasing. She can take a light confection like It's a Most Unusual Day and convert it into a swinging message, punctuated with time changes ranging from three-four to double-time.

"And she sang Bewitched with the restraint and sensitivity a first-class ballad deserves.

"The Four Freshmen sang, clowned, played, and sang some more. The comic relief delighted the audience. When the Freshmen settled down, however, they demonstrated that, showmanship aside, they can cut most vocal groups around today, and without resort to distorted voicings and other gimmicks. Their funky sound on Angel Eyes is a case in point.

"To cap the evening, the Freshmen, June and the Kenton band joined forces for a close that was, in turn, rollicking and nostalgic.

"The band charged in with the familiar arrangement of Love For Sale employing Afro-Cuban rhythms. Next, June and the Freshmen added the vocal dimension to Kenton's instrumental rendering of September Song. Here, the band's section voicings created a surging, lyrical sound.

"When the band swung into Gerry Mulligan's Walking Shoes, June and the Freshmen slipped in some vocal riffing that established a jam session mood. They did it again in The Peanut Vendor, the Kenton fixture in which his tenpiece brass section was put on its mettle. The brasses romped through the tricky dissonant passages and high-register pyrotechnics without a sign of a flub. Stan signed off with a few bars of his Artistry in Rhythm theme and suddenly it was all over.

"No account of the concert would be complete without a mention of the work of some of the sidemen in the Kenton band... the darting, inventive runs of Charlie Mariano on alto sax, for example . . . Bill Trujillo's glancing tenor work . . . the punching trumpet exclamations of Bud Brisbois and Rolf Ericson,... the trombone improvisations of Kent Larsen, Archie Le Coque and Don Sebesky. It was, all in all, a night to remember."

-BILL PEEPLES

THE ROAD

On September 28, 1959, Stan Kenton, his orchestra, June Christy, and the Four Freshmen began a five-week road tour.

The road! The wonderful, miserable, exciting road. A hectic 'endurance test which rivals military survival experiments. Stan, June, and the Freshmen are certainly no strangers to the road. At least once during almost all of the past seventeen years, Stan Kenton has packed his suitcase and taken his orchestra on tour. Until recent years, June Christy accompanied him as featured performer. The Freshmen, who seem to be wanderers at heart, have souvenirs from just about every city in the country.

However, as any veteran of the road will insist, no one ever really gets used to it. Each tour has new excitement, new faces, new experiences and problems sprinkled in with the usual assortment of trials and tribulations. This tour was certainly no exception.

To begin with, doing 38 shows in as many days while traveling several thousand miles is no mean feat. It means that the entire tour is made up of one-nighters - some of them "hit-and-runs;' when everyone climbs on the bus right after the concert and leaves immediately for the next city, often arriving just in time for the next performance.

Obviously, on such a tour, much of the time is spent riding from place to place. Inside the bus there is often silence. Dog-tired musicians are trying to sleep or at least relax by watching the countryside roll past. However, an interested observer will hear occasional scraps of conversation which go something like this:

"Remind me to get the address of that last hotel; I left my cufflinks on the dresser."

"I wonder if I'll have time to call my wife tonight?"

"Who has the bicarb?"

"I'll open:"

"I wish they could make the outside of a suitcase smaller and make the inside bigger:"

"I call and raise:"

"The guy that designs bus seats can't be over three feet tall" (this one probably from Stan).

"Who has an aspirin?"

"Right now I'd hock my horn for a meal that doesn't talk back:"

"I fold:'

"I wish we'd stop long enough to get my laundry done:"

"Who has the paper cups?"

"I knew you were bluffing."

"I wonder what it's like to get eight hours sleep?"

The road has many problems, but there are also rewards. Sometimes it is possible to steal a couple of hours and have a look at a new city. Lifelong friendships are often made. Jokes and humor are frequent. Ideas are exchanged.

There is one thing above all others that makes a tour such as this worthwhile. It is a feeling that grows gradually as the tour rolls on. This feeling comes from being an integral part of a great musical presentation. Night after night of working together, days spent traveling on the bus welds the entire show into a magnificent unit. A musical rapport is created which seems to make the whole even greater than the sum of its parts, each person continually striving to make a larger contribution.

During this particular tour, that magic was in full bloom when the organization reached Lafayette, Indiana, in October. There, the audiences felt its full impact. During two concerts-they sat enthralled, knowing that they were hearing a great performance by great musicians. The musicians also felt it and knew that this was their real compensation for the tremendous discomfort of weeks on the road.

That same night the tour moved on. There were more miles to be covered and more concerts to be played. The tour was not yet half completed. There would be more fast meals, too little sleep, miserable weather, laundry problems, and boredom. That's the way it is when you're on the road.