''Adventures in Blues'' is an album by the

Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though K ...

Orchestra featuring compositions by

Gene Roland Gene M. Roland (September 15, 1921 in Dallas – August 11, 1982 in New York City) was an American jazz composer and musician. He played many instruments during his career, but was most significant as an arranger/composer and for his associati ...

recorded in late 1961 and released by Capitol Records in 1963.Vosbein, P
Stan Kenton Discography
accessed June 9, 2016

Reception

The

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

review by Scott Yanow noted "This is one of the finer recordings by the Mellophonium Band, arguably Stan Kenton's last great orchestra. With the use of 20 horns, Roland was able to get a surprising amount of variety out of the material, making this a Kenton recording well worth investigating". On

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

William Grim wrote "This may be the most swinging of all of Kenton's albums because the arrangements were done by Gene Roland, the most consistently swinging of all of the great arrangers who honed their talents writing for the Kenton juggernaut. ...''Adventures in Blues'' is a great album and gives conclusive proof that when the music called for it, the Stan Kenton Orchestra could swing with the best of them".Grim, W
All About Jazz Review
November 16, 2002

Track listing

All compositions by Gene Roland. # "Reuben's Blues" - 4:26 # "Dragonwyck" - 4:40 # "Blue Ghost" - 4:18 # "Exit Stage Left" - 4:18 # "Night at the Gold Nugget" - 5:36 # "Formula SK-32" - 3:06 # "Aphrodisia" - 3:11 # "Fitz" - 4:30 # "The Blue's Story" - 3:22 *Recorded at Capitol Studios in Hollywood, CA on December 7, 1961 (tracks 1, 3 & 4), December 12, 1961 (track 8), December 13, 1961 (tracks 2, 5 & 9) and December 14, 1961 (tracks 6 & 7).

Personnel

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

*Bob Behrendt, Norman Baltazar, Bob Rolfe, Dalton Smith,

Marvin Stamm Marvin Louis Stamm (born May 23, 1939) is an American jazz trumpeter. Career Stamm was born in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Stamm began on trumpet at age twelve. He attended North Texas State University, where he was a member of the One ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

Dee Barton Dewells "Dee" Barton Jr. (September 18, 1937 — December 3, 2001) was an American jazz trombonist, big band drummer, and prolific composer for big band and motion pictures. He is best known for his association with the Stan Kenton Orchestra. Li ...

, Bob Fitzpatrick, Bud Parker -

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

*Jim Amlotte, - bass trombone *Dave Wheeler - bass trombone,

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

*Dwight Carver, Keith LaMotte,

Carl Saunders Carl Saunders (August 2, 1942 – February 25, 2023) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and educator who performed with such luminaries as Stan Kenton, Buddy Rich, Bill Holman, Clare Fischer, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Tormé, an ...

, Ray Starling - mellophone *

mellophone, soprano saxophone, arranger, conductor *

Gabe Baltazar Gabriel Ruiz Hiroshi Baltazar Jr. (November 1, 1929 – June 12, 2022) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and woodwind doubler. Background and early years His mother, born Chiyoko Haraga on a Hawaii sugarcane plantation, was the daughter of ...

- alto saxophone *

Buddy Arnold Arnold Buddy Grishaver (April 30, 1926 – November 9, 2003), known professionally as Buddy Arnold, was an American jazz saxophonist. Career Arnold took up the sax at age nine and turned pro while still in his teens. At 16 years old, Arnold p ...

Sam Donahue Samuel Koontz Donahue (March 18, 1918 – March 22, 1974) was an American jazz saxophonist, trumpeter, and musical arranger. He performed with Gene Krupa, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Billy May, Woody Herman, and Stan Kenton. Biography Donahue ...

(tracks 2, 5, 6 & 7), Paul Renzi -

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

*Allan Beutler - baritone saxophone *Joel Kaye - baritone saxophone,

bass saxophone The bass saxophone is one of the lowest-pitched members of the saxophone family—larger and lower than the more common baritone saxophone. It was likely the first type of saxophone built by Adolphe Sax, as first observed by Berlioz in 1842. It ...

Pat Senatore Pat Senatore (born August 19, 1935) is a jazz bassist born in Newark, New Jersey. Biography He attended the Juilliard School of Music in New York for two years but left because it did not offer jazz at that time. He then toured the country with ...

- bass *Jerry McKenzie - drums

References

{{Authority control Stan Kenton albums 1963 albums Capitol Records albums Albums conducted by Gene Roland Albums recorded at Capitol Studios Albums produced by Lee Gillette