[Dixielandjazz] Kenton Changes Big Band Sound

[Stan Brager]

Like many big band leaders, Kenton changed his big band sound many times as
did most of the big jazz bands - Goodman, Shaw, Basie, Herman, etc. They
accomplished this mostly by disbanding and reforming. Duke Ellington, on the
other hand, never disbanded - his music simply evolved as his capabilities
as a composer and arranger grew. Along with this, came the usual changes in
personnel (rare by most big band standards) and the numerical increase in
band members.

Stan
Stan Brager

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Stephen G Barbone [mailto:barbonestreet at earthlink.net]
> Sent: Friday, March 11, 2011 4:44 PM
> To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Kenton Changes Big Band Sound
> 
> > "Jack Mitchell" <fjmitch at westnet.com.au> wrote:
> >
> >> But the younger Sinatra is a storehouse of jazz academia and its
> >> changes
> >> through
> >> the years, which keeps it continually viable in an age of synthetic
> >> music
> >> and current
> >> fads.
> >> "The big jazz band sound changed in the 1960s with Stan Kenton, who
> >> was
> >> primarily
> >> responsible with experimenting and more flexibility in the sound.
> >
> >
> > It seems that Sinatra's "storehouse of jazz academia" (whatever that
> > means)
> > needs some revision. Kenton changed the big band sound in the 1940s.
> > Whether
> > it was for better or worse, I'll leave others to discuss.
> 
> > To which Bob Ringwald suggested could have been a typo.
> 
> I would add that perhaps Sinatra Jr. was referring to Kenton's
> Mellophonium band circa 1960-63. This version had its own 4
> mellophonium section and was a change from previous Kenton sounds. He
> even won a Grammy and it was the foundation of his educational work
> with colleges and high schools which legacy and big band influence
> continues today.
> 
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
> www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband
> 
> 
> 
> 
>