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The Airmen of Note Meets Stan Kenton
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Today in the U.S., it's Memorial Day, a national holiday. To honor the men and women of the military who sacrificed their lives in service of our country and those we were defending, today we're listening to the Airmen of Note playing a set of Stan Kenton's music. Created in 1950 to continue the tradition of Major Glenn Miller’s Army Air Forces dance band, the Airmen of Note consists of 17 active-duty musicians and one vocalist. Stationed at Joint Base ...
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Perfection: Stan Getz - 'Stella by Starlight'
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
The very first song Stan Getz recorded for Norman Granz's Clef label, in December 1952, was Victor Young's Stella by Starlight. At the time, the Stan Getz Quintet was comprised of Stan Getz (ts), Duke Jordan (p), Jimmy Raney (g), Bill Crow (b) and Frank Isola (d). By then, the group had already been playing the standard at gigs. They did so on November 14 at New York's Carnegie Hall and four days later at Birdland. They also performed it ...
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Johnny Richards and Stan Kenton
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Johnny Richards arranged several crackerjack albums for Stan Kenton. They include Cuban Fire!, tracks on Back to Balboa, Kenton's West Side Story and Adventures in Time. Even more exceptional are Richards's albums recorded as a leader, including Something Else, Wide Range, Walk Softly/Run Wild and Aqui Se Habla Español. With Kenton, Richards came a long way from his early neo-classical orchestrations in the late 1940s and early 1950s to the singular mid-decade sound that came to be identified with him. ...
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Stan Kenton: 1950-1951
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
For many fans of Stan Kenton, his New Concept of Artistry in Rhythm album (recorded in 1952) is their listening starting point. More intensive fans like to dip into his 1940s discography, which includes Eager Beaver, Tampico, Intermission Riff and Southern Scandal, allowing them to fully appreciate the evolution of Kenton's wall-of-sound approach. As for the years 1950 and 1951, they are generally ignored. [Publicity still above of Stan Kenton] The primary reason for this Kenton listening gap are three ...
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Stan Getz: Six New Videos
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Fortunately for us, Stan Getz was one of the most documented jazz saxophonists on videotape during concerts both here and abroad. Six clips of Getz that recently went up at YouTube: Here's Stan Getz and trumpeter Chet Baker with Jim McNeely (p), George Mraz (b) and Victor Lewis (d) in Stockholm in 1983... Here's Getz playing Wayne Shorter's Infant Eyes, with Getz (ts), Andy LaVerne (p), Mike Richmond (b), Billy Hart (d) and Efrain Toro (perc) in Oslo, Norway, on ...
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Stan Getz: Copenhagen Unissued Session 1977
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
On January 29, 1977, tenor saxophonist Stan Getz was in Copenhagen, Denmark, performing at the city's famed Jazzhus Montmartre club. He was joined by Joanne Brackeen (p,el-p), Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (b) and Billy Hart (d). The next day, the quartet went into a studio in Copenhagen and recorded an album for SteepleChase Records. The club material from the 29th was released as Live At Montmartre, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2: Stan Getz Quartet. The studio session tapes from the 30th ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Stan Getz
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Stan Getz's birthday today!
Beginnings... Stan Getz was born at St. Vincent's Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Feb. 2, 1927. He had one brother, Robert, who was born on October 30, 1932. His parents had come from the Kiev area in the Ukraine in 1903, tired and fearful of the Pogroms. The Getz family had first settled in West Philadelphia, but moved to New York City after Stan's fraternal uncle told them there were better ...
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Eight New Stan Getz Video Clips
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
When Stan Getz plays his tenor saxophone, he awakens in you the same feeling of relaxation you get from a tropical breeze or a hot shower. His high, smooth tone instantly soothes your soul and clears your head. A stark and forever-puzzling contrast with Getz's erratic and sometimes cruel personality that left most musicians and singers shocked and disgusted. It's hard to understand how the two personalities could exist in one artist, but they did. [Photo above of Stan Getz, ...
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Count, Duke, Stan, Harry, Gerald and Tubby in '65
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Thought to be over and done in 1965, big bands staged a comeback. Most of their acclaim came on tours in Europe and and on TV, but the truth is that bands led by top names were undergoing a renaissance. With their kids in college or out of the house and rock starting to dominate, many older listeners in the U.S. began paying attention again to artists who had shaped their youth. Abroad, a generation of young adults marveled at ...
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Stan Kenton: The Opus Story
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
After Stan Kenton wrote and arranged Opus in Pastels in 1940, the song was regularly performed by his band and became a hit in 1946 after it was recorded at Capitol. With the arrival of the 12-inch album format in 1955, the song was so pouplar that Kenton commissioned arranger Gene Roland to write a series of “opus" pieces with catchy melody lines to showcase the saxophones. Even arrangers Pete Rugolo and Bob Graettinger got into the opus act. Interestingly, ...
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