Stan Kenton, famous for experimentation, originality, unique interpretations of equally unique compositions, here turns his attention to “popular favorites” — songs known in the parlance of Tin Pan Alley as “standards.”
This means several things. It means they are songs which, year in and year out, remain favorites with both the musicians who play and the public which listens. Musically and lyrically they are usually several cuts above the average here-today-and-gone-tomorrow song that sweeps the country and disappears into quick oblivion. And when it comes to interpreting these “standards,” musicians are apt to reserve for them their finest talents in arranging and performing.
Stan Kenton has chosen several outstanding selections from the popular “standards” repertoire, investing them with his unusual artistry, adding to their long-lived lustre.
Featuring the choral arrangements for which he has become justly famous, Stan presents September Song (Kurt Weill — Maxwell Anderson), Tenderly (Walter Gross — Jack Lawrence) and Laura (Dave Raksin — Johnny Mercer) — three lovely and poignant examples of the best in modern songs. With full orchestra backing up the chorus, he captures and illuminates the mood of these beautiful ballads, simply enough to satisfy those to whom the song is all important, musically interesting enough to satisfy even the most devoted of Kenton devotees.
The tempo picks up and the rhythm goes south of the border as Stan next introduces Cole Porter’s Love for Sale in a wild and wicked Latin arrangement. Delicado, as the name implies, is handled in a lighter manner. In these, as in others, Stan displays an arresting acknowledgment of the place of Afro-Cubano sound and rhythm in current American jazz.
Finally Stan moves on to more modern stylings, starting off with such popular classics as Hoagy Carmichael's Stardust and Earle Hagen's Harlem Lullaby. As always, we hear the Kenton crew, individually and collectively, playing the kind of music that has astounded critics and delighted audiences, a bright, original, dynamic kind of jazz that has carried the Kenton name throughout the world.
The happy victim of a musical awareness and curiosity that has dated back fifteen years, Stan has grown with the years, constantly experimenting with ideas and sounds, constantly encouraging and inspiring other young composers, arrangers, and instrumentalists to say what they had to say. The result has been a musical era bearing the imprint of Kenton.
His is, in reality, a double imprint. He not only can say something new; he can say something old in a new way. He has respect for the finest in already-accepted popular music and the restraint and imagination that enable him to present these songs so that they live anew. Stan can play "popular favorites and make them more popular than they’ve ever been before.
