Stan Kenton
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Stan Kenton – El Choclo
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Biography
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.
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.”
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.
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The Very Best Of Stan Kenton
10,457 listeners16 tracks
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Retrospective (disc 1)
18,200 listeners21 tracks
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The Best of Stan Kenton
7,866 listeners18 tracks
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Cuban Fire
2,916 listeners6 tracks
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raphaa00
City Of Glass is astounding!
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kaly_
100th Anniversary of Birth !!!
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FFer2again
Relaxing music for more than one evening
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Agravenlife
He shat on Wagner.
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Mokami
this is music
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Raketenish
(Words to live by)
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Raketenish
"There is a danger of an entire generation growing up with the idea that jazz and the atom bomb are essentially the same natural phenomenon." Barry Ulanov on Stan Kenton (1948)
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vladimir34
Few were the best!
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fredoakes
Kenton was at Newcastle City Hall twice , paid the first time ,couldn't afford it the second time , I just stood outside and listened . magic moments.
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worktodo
As far as the suggestions of racism go, its worth giving the wiki article a thorough read - its well cited and points very strongly away from that conclusion. http://www.last.fm/music/Stan+Kenton/+wiki
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frederickellis
Oh yes & don`t forget, he launched the singing careers of Anita O`Day and June (the misty miss) Christy.. two of the 20th century`s most influential jazz singers.
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frederickellis
Was Kenton a racist (can you believe what the media say-I`ve learned not to)- surely even if he was, we here on LastFM must judge him purely on his musical prowess, which is undeniable- he cut a niche in his day which still lasts today- the massed power of the brass section-fantastic.. Also on the positive side, many a young musician owed getting his chance to Stan Kenton.
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zrsullivan
I prefer to think of his (potentially true) bigotry as a charming character trait, like Archie Bunker.
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rise_again
malaguena is so epic.
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zrsullivan
Madness, I tell you. Madness.
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