Customer Reviews

Live in Europe

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Though Stan Kenton would lead his band on tours in 1977 and 1978, this live recording from September 1976 is the band's last official recording. This well recorded 46 CD (a straight re-issue of the LP) is a thrilling, if unplanned, finale to Kenton's recording career.

In a way, "Live in Europe" summarizes Kenton's career. Charts are drawn from all 4 decades of the band's history - "Eager Beaver/Artistry in Rhythm" from the `40's; "Love For Sale" and "My Old Flame" from the `50's; "Turtle Talk" and " I'm Glad There is You" from the 60's; and the remaining 3 charts," Lush Life"," Tattooed Lady" and "Fire and Ice" are from the 70's, written especially for this band by arranger Alan Yankee. Other arrangers include Pete Rugolo, Dee Barton, Marty Paich, and Kenton himself - an impressive line-up, indeed.

Throughout the program you hear the Kenton band's great command of dynamics from extremely soft to all-out fortissimo. The band cuts its Latin speciality ("Love For Sale"); swings hard ("Tattooed Lady" and parts of "Lush Life"); caresses a ballad ("I'm Glad There is You"); plays with tremendous control building up to a dramatic climax at a very slow tempo ("My Old Flame"), and tackles modern harmonic material like "Turtle Talk" and the awe-inspiring "Fire and Ice." And it's great to hear Stan do the band call before the out-chorus on "Artistry in Rhythm."

The band's performance is typically Kentonian, which is to say tight and powerful, and includes strong solos from trombonists Dick Shearer and Jeff Uusitalo, alto saxophonist Terry Layne, trumpeter Steve Campos, and especially from tenor saxophonist Roy Reynolds and trumpeter Tim Hagans, who blow two of the hottest solos ever captured on a Kenton recording on "Fire and Ice". The rhythm section of John Worster, bass Gary Hobbs, drums, and Ramon Lopez, Latin percussion drives the band hard and is right on the money at every tempo. And of course, one must never forget the lyrical piano solos of Stan Kenton and especially his inspiring leadership and personality which were the keys to the band's success.

"Live In Europe" is full of atmosphere and good memories, and proves once again why the Stan Kenton Orchestra was such a powerful and popular musical force for four decades. Warmly recommended to Kenton fans and those discovering the Kenton sound for the first time.

Stan Kenton's concerts in the 1970s were exciting events, and this 1976 performance delivers the impact of a front-row seat, complete with Stan's introductions to the tunes and soloists. This brings back fond memories for me because I participated in one of Kenton's jazz workshops just two months before this was recorded, so I spent a week interacting with these talented characters.

The selections span Stan's career, from "Artistry in Rhythm" and "Eager Beaver" (1940s) to "Love for Sale" (Pete Rugolo's arrangement from the early 1950s) to "Turtle Talk" (at a brighter tempo than the version on the 1961 album "Adventures in Jazz"). There are also three arrangements by baritone saxophonist Alan Yankee. An undocumented fact about his chart "Tattooed Lady": At the July 1976 workshop, Yankee told us he chose the title because he had written the piece in Lydian mode, and recalling Groucho Marx's novelty tune "Lydia, the Tattooed Lady," he figured his choice for the title was obvious.

The ensemble is tight and powerful throughout this performance, as one would expect from the Kenton band. The best solos come from tenor saxophonist Roy Reynolds and trombonist Jeff Uusitalo. Having heard Uusitalo play extensively at the workshop, I wish he'd been featured more on this album. His jazz playing was truly impressive. Much less impressive was trumpeter Tim Hagans, who didn't measure up to the standards set by earlier Kenton trumpet soloists like Conte Candoli and Marvin Stamm. Although Hagans was technically proficient, his bland tone and splatty articulations were combined with an improvisational style that was short on ideas even when it was plentiful on notes.

Overall, this album is a great choice for those who want a sample of the Kenton sound from late in Stan's career. For the best of Stan's creative world, look to his recordings from 1950 through the early 1960s.