Live at Brigham Young University

Szantor, Jim. "Record Review. Live at Brigham Young University." Down Beat, 2 March 1972: 18-19.

STAN KENTON LIVE AT BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY—Creative World ST 1039: Sides 1&4: Malaga; Theme From Love Story; Kaleidoscope; Macumba Suite (Twilight in the Favelas; Procession to the Terreira; Omulu; Cumprimento). Sides 2&3: A Step Beyond; What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?; April Fool; Hank’s Opener; Rhapsody in Blue.

Personnel: Mike Vax, Gary Pack, Joe Marcinkiewicz, Jay Saunders, Dennis Noday, trumpets; Dick Shearer, Fred Carter, Mike Jamieson, Mike Wallace, Graham Ellis, trombones; Quin Davis, Richard Torres, Kim Frizell, Willie Maiden, Chuck Carte, reeds; Kenton, piano; Gary Todd, bass; John Von Ohlen, drums; Ramon Lopez, Latin percussion.

Rating: ★★★★★ / ★★★★

This is Kenton’s second double-album release (not counting reissues) on his Creative World label. It is absolutely top notch and much more varied in fare and polished in performance than the prior At Redlands Univ. LP.

The band has grown and with a relatively stable personnel situation, the ever-constant flow of new material has been not only well-digested but refined to a rare degree. A note about the ratings: Sides one and four get the five. Sides two and three are also very good but the material (mainly Hank Levy’s The Opener and One Step Beyond: Ken Hanna’s Bogota) somewhat less compelling. Rhapsody, featuring Carter and Rest of Your Life, featuring altoist Davis, account for most of the rating on those sides.

Though not as lively as most of the Redlands LP, the ensemble work here is, for the most part, incredible. The brass are most improved and lead trumpeter Vax is outstanding in execution if a bit stiff in conception. This was a one-night concert, no retakes—making the precision all the more remarkable.

The ensemble cohesion, though, is the biggest improvement. The sections are listening to and blending with each other, and the mighty rhythm section, paced by stalwart drummer Von Ohlen, is stronger than ever and the horns and the rhythm section have been welded much closer together.

On Bill Holman’s Malalga, Von Ohlen’s amazing drum energy nearly steals the show. But very much in the picture is Richard Torres, who distinguishes himself with a very lucid solo. He just might be the heaviest tenor to arrive via a big band context since Sa! Nistico. Trumpeter Noday contributes a strong solo—one of the tastiest and most well-directed high-not excursions yet heard.

Macumba is an unusual work—an ambitious and evocative suite by longtime Kenton contributor/confidant Hanna. It’s good—there’s excitement and some of the freest Kent on yet heard—but I dug the more restrained and melodic moments best. This is Johnny Richards country, so to speak—and the residency requirements are quite high. Though the band is extra fine here, culling this complex work with sensitivity and aplomb, I found about two-thirds of Macumba tedious and/or contrived. I alternately like it and dislike it.

Hanna hits the bullseye, though, with Rest of Your Life, which shifts from ballad tempo to a surging, romping trampoline base for Davis’ inspired alto solo—perhaps his best yet on record. Kenton’s piano, long overlooked (how about that solo album?), is to the fore here. He has a delightful touch and seems to cradle the melody in his hands while sifting and probing for the ultimate nuances. Nicely done, Stanley!

My favorite composition is Maiden’s clever, complex yet swinging Kaleidoscope—a well-integrated piece—the work of a true master. Trumpeter Pack a since-departed but very talented jazz soloist, gets off a deft solo here. Maiden’s Fool, an expanded revisiting of a chart written for the old Maynard Ferguson sextet, is lovely and graceful and offers some of the author’s airy, wistful baritone, of which more should be heard. Maiden is also responsible for the moving Love Story.

Carter’s solo showcase on Rhapsody (scored by Bill Holman) is a virtual textbook of virile, imaginative, yet tender baritone ballad playing—a demanding art. With beautiful sound and no wasted motion, he authors to my ears the best such playing since Gerry Mulligan’s solo on Manoir de Mes Reves (Django’s Castle) from The Concert Jazz Band LP of 1960.

This, then, is the imprint of a very together band at one of its peak periods. The “compatible quadriphonic” recording is superb —pure and direct. And Creative World, incidentally, is not your ordinary garden variety mail order schtick. All of the releases thus far releases included) have been very well recorded, functionally packaged and all pertinent date are included. —szanter

“Record Review. Special Merit Picks. Live at Brigham Young University.” Billboard 25 Dec. 1971: 49.

STAN KENTON AND HIS ORCHESTRA LIVE AT BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY—Creative World ST 1039

The super Kenton sound, enhanced by the quadraphonic technique is superbly but together in this dynamite two-record set, a live performance at Brigham Young. All of the musical excitement and audience enthusiasm captured here with highlights that include the opener “Malaga,” to “Love Story,” “A Step Beyond,” “Rhapsody in Blue,” to the closer “Cumprimento.” package available by mail order, Creative World Inc., Box 35216, Los Angeles.