The Romantic Approach

This collection of twelve great ballad standards serves as a recorded introduction to still another era in the legendary career of Modern-Music-Master Stan Kenton. For here is a new Kenton band, featuring a brilliant array of inventive scores splashed with fresh and unusual combinations of orchestral color.

The emphasis is definitely on romance here, and indeed these imaginative arrangements have been sketched with lovers in mind. As always, Stan's faithful adherence to painstakingly accurate metric patterns makes the album perfect for dancing, as well as for listening. And without obscuring a single familiar melodic line, the beauty of each tune has been enhanced by the use of rich, modern harmonies and striking instrumental blends.

The most singular feature of the new Kenton sound results from the addition of four mellophoniums and a tuba, which supplement the more conventional brass contingent. The mellophonium (pictured below) is a unique brass instrument which was designed at Stan’s personal request. It utilizes a tonal area that has lain virtually untouched between the trumpet and trombone ranges, and its full, warm voice adds even greater scope and dimension to the famous Kenton sound.

These arrangements, which are highlighted by several richly descriptive passages of Kenton's distinctive piano, are all part of an impressive new library that includes many concert scores as well as an extensive dance book. The writing is also a product of Stan's creative energy, and here he has taken ingenious advantage of an extended horizon of sounds and ideas to make this one of the greatest Kenton bands ever.

This lush album of romantic ballads, then, is only the beginning of an exciting new chapter in the already fabulous Stan Kenton Story!