''Kenton '76'' is one of the last two

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

s by American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

musician

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 ...

and his orchestra, released in 1976, by Creative World Records. Recording sessions for the album took place in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

on December 3–5, 1975. The album was recorded after the longest hiatus the band would have from the studio due to financial difficulties and Kenton's growing health problems.Sparke, Michael; Venudor, Peter (1998). "Stan Kenton, The Studio Sessions". Balboa Books. p. 217 .

Background

The take of ''Decoupage'' on the album is the third take, recorded on Dec 4; 10 takes of this

Levy Levy, Lévy or Levies may refer to: People * Levy (surname), people with the surname Levy or Lévy * Levy Adcock (born 1988), American football player * Levy Barent Cohen (1747–1808), Dutch-born British financier and community worker * Levy ...

masterpiece were done over 2 days. Though the piece is one of the highlights for the band during that era, the solo by Terry Lane is weak and pointed out in later notes by

Bob Curnow Robert Harry "Bob" Curnow (born November 1, 1941) is an American musician who served as a trombonist, staff arranger and producer for the Stan Kenton Orchestra during the 1960s and 1970s.Sparke, Michael; Venudor, Peter (1998). "Stan Kenton, The ...

, "Stan did not hire most of the guys, Dick (Shearer) did. With some obvious exceptions, I don't believe the soloists in the 70's bands were the equal of the earlier bands." ''Samba De Haps'' is the first of several works written by Mark Taylor that the Kenton band recorded for the last two studio albums; he would create a distinctive signature and a name that is well known in the music publishing world.

gives great credit to Hank Levy, "''Time For A Change'' was a fantastic chart, the way it's put together, and the way the band swings within the meter. I don't mean swings necessarily in the traditional sense, but the way they play rhythmically, I think it's a hell of a chart. And if listen to the end of a

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progre ...

pieces called "Every Summer Night", it closes literally with the first four measures of 'Decoupage'." Curnow also comments on Kenton's health issues during that time, "Stan conducted the band through Holman's 'Tiburon'...Stan wasn't so quick to come to grips musically with what was happening. I was in the booth, and he was conducting, and it was a real struggle."

Reception

Track listing

''Send In The Clowns'' and ''My Funny Valentine'' arranged by Dave Barduhn.

Personnel

Musicians

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 keyboa ...

and leader:

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

s and

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

s: Alan Yankee, Dan Salmasian, Greg Smith, Roy Reynolds, Terry Layne *

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 ...

s: John Harner, Jay Sollenberger, Jim Oatts, Steve Campos,

Tim Hagans Tim Hagans (born August 19, 1954) is an American jazz trumpeter, arranger, and composer. He has been nominated for three Grammy Awards: Best Instrumental Composition for "Box of Cannoli" on ''The Avatar Sessions'' (Fuzzy Music, 2010); Best Contem ...

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

Dick Shearer Richard Bruce Shearer (September 21, 1940 – September 20, 1997) was an American jazz trombonist. Career Shearer was lead trombonist and music director for the Stan Kenton Orchestra. He succeeded Jim Trimble in the late 1960s, led the band ...

, Dave Keim, Mike Egan, Alan Morrisey (bass trombone), Douglas Purviance (bass trombone, tuba) * acoustic and

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

bass: Dave Stone *

drum set A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

: Gary Hobbs *

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

: Ramon Lopez

Production

–

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

*Murray Allen – recording engineering *Jordana Von Spiro – art direction *Serge Seymour, Audree Coke, Jurgen Wiechmann – cover art/photography

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

*
''Kenton '76'' at Allmusic

''Kenton '76'' at All Things Kenton
{{Authority control Instrumental albums 1976 albums Stan Kenton albums GNP Crescendo Records albums