Stanley Newcomb Kenton
Stan Kenton, ca. 1947/48
Born	December 15, 1911 Wichita, Kansas, USA
Died	August 25, 1979 Los Angeles, California, USA

Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. In later years he was widely active as an educator. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x777, 100 KB) This work is copyrighted and unlicensed. ... December 15 is the 349th day of the year (350th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... Flag Nickname: Air Capital Location Location in the state of Kansas Government County Sedgwick Mayor Carlos Mayans Geographical characteristics Area     City 138. ... August 25 is the 237th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (238th in leap years), with 128 days remaining. ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ... December 15 is the 349th day of the year (350th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... August 25 is the 237th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (238th in leap years), with 128 days remaining. ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... Jazz is an original American musical art form originating around the start of the 20th century in New Orleans, rooted in Western music technique and theory, and is marked by the profound cultural contributions of African Americans. ... The Boston Pops orchestra performing on the Charles River Esplanade in Boston, Massachusetts. ...

Origins

Stan Kenton was born in Wichita, Kansas, and raised first in Colorado and then in California. He learned piano as a child, and while still a teenager toured with various bands. In June 1941 he formed his own band, which developed into one of the best-known West Coast ensembles of the Forties. Flag Nickname: Air Capital Location Location in the state of Kansas Government County Sedgwick Mayor Carlos Mayans Geographical characteristics Area     City 138. ... Official language(s) English Capital Denver Largest city Denver Area  Ranked 8th  - Total 104,185 sq mi (269,837 km²)  - Width 280 miles (451 km)  - Length 380 miles (612 km)  - % water 0. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... A baby grand piano, with the lid up. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1941 calendar). ...

Music

Kenton's musical aggregations were decidedly "orchestras." Sometimes consisting of two dozen or more musicians at once, they produced an unmistakable Kenton sound--as recognizable as that of the bands of Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, or Count Basie. So large an orchestra was able to produce a tremendous, at times overpowering, volume in the dance and concert halls of the land; among musical conservatives it developed a reputation for playing strange-sounding pieces much too loudly, and indeed one comical MC introduced Stan Kenton as "Cant Standit." Major Glenn Miller Glenn Miller (March 1, 1904–probably December 15, 1944) started life as Alton Glenn Miller in Clarinda, Iowa. ... Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy Duke Ellington (April 29, 1899–May 24, 1974), also known simply as Duke (see Jazz royalty), was an American jazz composer, pianist, and bandleader. ... William Count Basie (August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was a jazz pianist, organist, and bandleader. ...

A Kenton specialty was Afro-Cuban rhythm, as exported to North America by such bandleaders as Machito (whose brass and reed sound, in turn, began to show the influence of Kenton). Translated into the Kenton idiom, however, the Latin rhythms might be scored for a full panoply of percussion instruments: tympani, bongos, conga, timbales, claves, and maracas. This component of Kenton's work may be heard on the 1947 recording "Machito" and on the album Cuban Fire, still in print after more than fifty years of ceaseless change in popular music.

Many of Kenton's band arrangements were written by Kenton himself, as well as other composers and arrangers such as Gene Roland, Pete Rugolo, W. A. Mathieu, Johnny Richards, Lennie Niehaus, Gerry Mulligan, Bill Russo, Dee Barton, Bill Holman, Shorty Rogers, Ken Hanna, and Bob Graettinger (ref. his formidable but fascinating "City of Glass"). The music, which could be intensely dissonant, made use of powerful brass sections and unconventional saxophone voicings that showed Kenton's love of experimenting, reflected in the names he gave his ensembles: "Innovations Orchestra," "Neophonic Orchestra," and "Mellophonium Orchestra." Kenton's theme song from the early days to the last was called, significantly, "Artistry in Rhythm." It was owing in part to Kenton's ambitious musical nomenclature that many critics dismissed his work as mannered and pretentious. But apart from recording a few dance-band albums (Kenton's men could play standards beautifully), he avoided compromising his idea of jazz to please either critics or public. Pete Rugolo (born December 25, 1915) is an Italian-born composer and arranger. ... William Allaudin Mathieu (b. ... Gerry Muligan Gerald Joseph Gerry Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996) was an American jazz musician, composer and arranger best known for his baritone saxophone playing, but also played the piano and the clarinet. ... William Russo, better known as Bill Russo (June 25, 1928 – January 11, 2003) was an American jazz musician. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

Noted band personnel

Noted band personnel included

• Bob Gioga,
• Vido Musso,
• Eddie Safranski,
• Bud Shank,
• Laurindo Almeida,
• Zoot Sims,
• Lee Konitz,
• Gabe Balthazar,
• Lennie Niehaus,
• Art Pepper,
• Stan Getz,
• Shorty Rogers,
• Shelly Manne,
• George Roberts,
• Milt Bernhart,
• Buddy Childers,
• Carl Fontana,
• Bob Cooper,
• Bill Holman,
• Frank Rosolino,
• Skip Layton,
• Jack Costanza,
• Kai Winding,
• Bart Varsalona,
• Ed Soph,
• Jay Saunders
• Clay Jenkins,
• Conte Candoli,
• Pete Candoli,
• Mike Vax,
• Stan Levey,
• Maynard Ferguson.

Famed vocalists Anita O'Day, June Christy, and Chris Connor were featured with the Kenton orchestra. Kenton discovered The Four Freshmen performing in a small club in Dayton, Ohio, and gave them a huge boost. John Haley Zoot Sims was an American jazz musician. ... Lee Konitz (born 1927 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American jazz composer and saxophone player. ... Lennie Niehaus is an American alto saxophonist, arranger, and composer. ... Arthur Edward Pepper, Jr. ... Stan Getz Stanley Getz, better known as Stan Getz (February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz musician. ... Shorty Rogers was a west coast jazz musician born April 14, 1924. ... Shelly Manne (June 11, 1920 – September 26, 1984), born Sheldon Manne in New York, New York, was an American jazz drummer. ... Marion Buddy Childers was born February 12, 1926, became famous in 1942, when Stan Kenton hired him at the tender age of 16 to be the lead trumpet in his band. ... Carl Fontana (July 18, 1928 - October 9, 2003) was a jazz trombonist. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Frank Rosolino (August 20, 1926 - November 26, 1978) was a jazz trombonist. ... Kai Chresten Winding (May 18, 1922-May 6, 1983) was a popular trombonist and jazz composer. ... Mike Vax is a jazz trumpeter. ... Maynard Ferguson (born May 4, 1928 in Montreal, Canada) is a jazz trumpet player and bandleader. ... Anita ODay Anita ODay (born October 18, 1919) is an American jazz singer. ... June Christy (born November 25th, 1925 - June 21st, 1990) was an American Jazz Singer popular in the 1950s. ... Chris Connor is one of the really great jazz singers. ... The Four Freshmen were an American vocal group popular from the 1950s through the early 1960s. ... Flag Seal Nickname: Gem City Location Coordinates , Government Country  State   County United States  Ohio   Montgomery Founded Incorporated April 1, 1796 1805 Mayor Rhine L. McLin Geographical characteristics Area     City 146. ...

Famous recordings

• Intermission Riff
• opus in Chart reuse
• Opus in pastels
• Street where you live
• Quintessence
• the Stage Door Swings

Latter years

In his latter years, the genial and charismatic Kenton expended much energy encouraging big band music and what he called "progressive jazz" in schools and colleges throughout the country. His entire library was donated to the University of North Texas in Denton. He was a salient figure on the American musical scene and made an indelible mark on the arranged type of big band jazz. Kenton's music evolved with the times throughout the 1960s and 70s, although he was no longer one of the great innovators. His final performance was in August 1978, a year before he died. He lived to see his son Lance, a key member of the Synanon drug rehabilitation cult, condemned to prison for assault and conspiracy after placing a rattlesnake in a lawyer's mailbox; what he missed, however, was the later critical "rediscovery" of his music, with many reissues of his recordings. The University of North Texas (informally UNT or North Texas) is a public university located in Denton, Texas. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... Synanon was initially a drug rehabilitation program founded by Charles Dederich Sr. ... Drug rehabilitation (often shortened to drug rehab or just rehab) is an umbrella term for the processes of medical and/or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs , and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines. ... In religion and sociology, a cult is a cohesive group of people (often a relatively small and recently founded religious movement) devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture or society considers to be far outside the mainstream. ... Species 27 species; see list of rattlesnake species and subspecies. ...

Stan Kenton died on August 25, 1979, after suffering a stroke a week earlier. He was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, Los Angeles.

Selected discography

• New Concepts of Artistry in Rhythm (1952)
• Cuban Fire! (1956)
• Viva Kenton (1959)
• Kenton '76 (1976)