''Viva Kenton!'' (subtitled ''Exciting Latin Rhythms with the Kenton Touch'') is an album by

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 Ke ...

, released in 1959 by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

, and later on Kenton's own Creative World label.Vosbein, P
Stan Kenton Discography
accessed April 21, 2016
accessed April 18, 2016 The album features 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 association ...

, and was Kenton's second all-

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

album. It was the follow-up to Kenton's successful '' Cuban Fire!'' LP of 1956. ''Viva Kenton!'' features Kenton's 18-piece orchestra, with an additional percussion quartet. Featured soloists are

alto saxophonist The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

Charlie Mariano Carmine Ugo Mariano (November 12, 1923 – June 16, 2009) was an American jazz saxophonist who focused on the alto and soprano saxophone. He occasionally performed and recorded on flute and nadaswaram as well. Biography Mariano was born in ...

trombonist 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 ...

Don Sebesky Don Sebesky (born December 10, 1937) is an American arranger, jazz trombonist, and keyboardist. Biography Sebesky trained in trombone at the Manhattan School of Music; in his early career, he played with Kai Winding, Claude Thornhill, Tommy ...

, and

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 standar ...

Rolf Ericson Rolf Ericson (August 29, 1922 – June 16, 1997) was a Swedish jazz trumpeter. He also played the flugelhorn. Yanow, Scott. Biography ''AllMusic'' Early career Ericson was born in Stockholm, Sweden. He moved to New York City in 1947 and, in 1 ...

. In 2005,

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...

released the album on CD (under the Capitol Jazz imprint) with 6 bonus tracks, all taken from the 1963 album ''

Artistry in Bossa Nova ''Artistry in Bossa Nova'' is an album by the Stan Kenton Orchestra performing old and new compositions arranged in a bossa nova style recorded and released by Capitol Records in 1963.Vosbein, PStan Kenton Discographyaccessed June 9, 2016 Recepti ...

''.

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 dat ...

review by Scott Yanow called the album "potentially gimmicky but surprisingly successful".

Track listing

All compositions by Gene Roland except where noted. #"Mexican Jumping Bean" - 4:30 #"Siesta" - 3:37 #"Cha Cha Sombrero" - 4:48 #"Chocolate Caliente" - 3:26 #"Aqua Marine" - 2:41 #"Opus in Chartreuse Cha-Cha-Cha" - 2:48 #"Cha Cha Chee Boom" - 3:50 #"Adios" (

Enric Madriguera Enric R. Madriguera (17 February 1902 – 7 September 1973) was a violinist of Catalan origin who was playing concerts as a child before he studied at the Barcelona Conservatory. (The Castilian form of his name is Enrique, which he sometimes used ...

) - 3:09 #"Mission Trail" - 3:23 #"Artistry in Rhythm" (Stan Kenton) - 3:01 *Recorded at the Riverside Plaza Hotel, NYC on September 22, 1959 (track 10) and September 23, 1959 (tracks 1-9)

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 musica ...

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas * Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...

Bud Brisbois Austin Dean "Bud" Brisbois (April 11, 1937 – June 1978) was a jazz and studio trumpeter. He played jazz, pop, rock, country, Motown, and classical music. Career Brisbois was born in Edina, Minnesota and began studying the trumpet at age 12. ...

Bill Chase Bill Chase (October 20, 1934 – August 9, 1974) was an American trumpeter and leader of the jazz-rock band Chase. Biography Bill Chase was born William Edward Chiaiese on October 20, 1934, to an Italian-American family in Squantum, Massa ...

, Roger Middleton, Dalton Smith -

*Kent Larsen, Archie Le Coque,

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 vibrat ...

*Jim Amlotte, Bob Knight - bass trombone *

- alto saxophone *John Bonnie, Bill Trujillo -

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 ...

*Marvin Holladay,

Jack Nimitz Jack Nimitz (January 11, 1930 – June 10, 2009) was an American jazz baritone saxophonist. He was nicknamed "The Admiral". Career A native of Washington, D.C., Nimitz started on clarinet in his early teens before playing alto saxophone. Dur ...

- baritone saxophone *Pete Chivily -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gu ...

*Jimmy Campbell -

drums 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 ...

*Mike Pacheco -

bongos Bongos ( es, bongó) are an Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. They are struck with both hands, most commonly in an eight-stroke pattern called ''martillo'' (hammer). The ...

timbales Timbales () or pailas are shallow single-headed drums with metal casing. They are shallower than single-headed tom-toms and usually tuned much higher, especially for their size.Orovio, Helio 1981. ''Diccionario de la música cubana: biográfi ...

*Willie Rodriguez - congas, bongos *Tommy Lopez - congas (tracks 1-9)

References

{{Authority control Stan Kenton albums 1960 albums Capitol Records albums Blue Note Records albums Albums conducted by Stan Kenton Albums produced by Lee Gillette