Kenton Showcase [Extra tracks, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

Stan Kenton | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 6, 2000)
• Original Release Date: 1953
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Blue Note Records
• ASIN: B00004T2RJ
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #239,567 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #78 in Music > Indie Music > Pop > Instrumental Pop & Lounge

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Essence of Stan Kenton, August 17, 2000

By 

John Pearson (Osterville, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kenton Showcase (Audio CD)

This orchestra tried everything musically over the four decades we had to hear it live. You loved it--truly loved it--or you hated it.No in between. But for those of us who truly loved Stan and his music, the energy and art of Showcase is in our blood.It's a collection of brilliant scores by two of the world's richest and diverse writers. Bill Holman the swinger and Bill Russo the scluptor. The arrangements are performed by maybe the best musicians Kenton had ever assembled. If you own one Kenton album, it should be this one.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A study in contrasts, April 1, 2004

By 

Richard J. Boivin "Bigband man" (Hemet, Ca United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kenton Showcase (Audio CD)

It's great to have this album on remastered CD., The sound is terrific. I wore out my first copy of this album 50 years ago as a teenager. Kenton got my classically trained ear into jazz and this album was a big part of it. Bill Russo wrote the kind of thing Kenton was really after, I believe, but Bill Holman's arrangements swing and show his genius too. These two composers are really a contrast in approaches to jazz. The liner notes say how the band members weren't too crazy about Russo's approach, but you can't deny the beauty of Russo's work even now, so many years later. Both men are giants and a giant gave them this opportunity to show their work. It's an album worth having.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Russo and Holman - the future of big bands and jazz orchestra, July 18, 2007

By 

R. Viehdorfer (Arvada CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kenton Showcase (Audio CD)

This is, to my ear, an essential part of the Kenton library. These are recordings that advanced ideas uncommon in jazz at that time and presaged third stream, as coined by Schuller, and initially practiced, in this date and time, by the MJQ and other post-modernists, Kenton included (The Innovations Orchestra). Both composers are featured, with Russo being the more avant-garde; his compositions are complex, interesting, and compelling, avoiding the typical stiffness and, frankly, boredom of most previous attempts to sandwich modern classical music with modern jazz elements. Holman carves a different sculpture, embracing more aspects of the blues, as well as modern harmonics and structure, while not losing the essence of what a big band should be. It's interesting to note that Holman, along with Bob Brookmeyer, established much of what became the mold for modern big band arrangers, and worked with the likes of Terry Gibbs and Buddy Rich, among others, in the years to come. Specific performances to note on this release are too numerous to mention; however, I always gravitate to A Theme of Four Values, Thisbe, Bacante, Egdon Heath, Bags, Theme And Variations, and Kingfish. My 4 Star rating has more to do with the sound quality than the performances; they were recorded in 1953-54 and suffer the technical limitations of the time, mainly, mono sound and the inevitable compression. Included on this date are such stellar players as Lee Konitz, Maynard Ferguson, Stan Levy, Candido Camero, and Zoot Sims, as well as Russo and Holman in the sections. A joy to listen to is the wonderfully individual alto sound of Davey Schildkraut, who also played and recorded with Miles Davis. This is one of only two or three Kenton releases that I find essential to my library.