[Dixielandjazz] From Mike Vax on rumors of Stan Kenton's 'racism.'

[Jim Denham]

In message <1d8.433711.2b5acb5c at aol.com>, JimDBB at aol.com writes
>
>MIke Vax was an essential part of Stank Kenton's band for some years.  I
>asked him about these rumors that Stan Kenton was a 'racist.'  Here is his
>reply.
>Jim Beebe
>
>"That rumor was pretty much started by Ken Burns in his infinite stupidity!
>
>In the book that went along with the wonderfully full of BS - PBS crap that
>he put out, he sites that Stan once voted for George Wallace.  He actually
>joked about that on the bus one day and said that the only reason he
>voted for him was that he was sick and tired of all the lies and BS that the
>politicians were putting out, and Wallace
>was the only one that spoke what he really felt. (That never made it into
>Burn's book.)
>Stan had many black musicians tour with the band, including Charlie
>Parker, Dizzy, Ernie Royal and others. The main reason that more blacks
>didn't play on the band had nothing to do with Stan's personality or his
>political beliefs.  Black jazz players did not want to play the kind of music
>that Stan was performing and recording, because it wasn't swing oriented
>and they weren't drawn to it.  Very rarely did blacks ever audition for the
>band.
>
>Stan Kenton loved ALL kinds of people.  He was one of the nicest, kindest
>and most respectful human beings that I ever met.  He was also one of the
>very best band leaders in the way he treated all the musicians on the
>band."
>
>Mike Vax ---
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>Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
>http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz

Thanks for that, Jim (and Mike).

The term "racist" is bandied about much too lightly these days. It's a very
serious charge, and those making it should be willing to back it up with facts.

I hate Stan Kenton's music and have often used the term "fascist" to describe
its worst excesses - but only in jest.

He clearly was a very stupid man (eg: supporting Wallace), and his bend was a
lumbering, pretentious monstrosity that often included some good jazz players.
Black musicians were very wise to steer clear of it on the grounds that it
didn't swing.

But Kenton a "racist" in any meaningful sense of the word? Obviously not. We're
in danger of devaluing language to suggest otherwise.

There have been racist jazz musicians (I've known one or two), and obviously
the racism of US society during most of the 20th Century meant that black
musicians got a raw deal. But on the whole, white jazz and jazz/big band
leaders (eg Krupa, Goodman, Shaw...and even Kenton) were a force for
integration and non- (even, *anti*-)racism.

To suggest otherwise is a slander against even the "musical fascist" Kenton.

Yours,

  --
Jim Denham