In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Reviewed by:
  • Stan Kenton: This Is an Orchestra!
  • Frank Tirro
Stan Kenton: This Is an Orchestra! By Michael Sparke . North Texas Lives of Musicians Series, No. 5. Denton: University of North Texas Press, 2010. ISBN 978-1-57441-284-0. Hardcover. Pp. xi, 345. $24.95.

Michael Sparke spent much of his lifetime listening to the music of Stan Kenton live and on recordings, and for this book he interviewed many of the musicians associated with the various Kenton bands as well as members of the Kenton family. Sparke, a British discographer, with Pete Venudor, his Dutch associate, has already published an outstanding discography of all the Stan Kenton studio session recordings with complete and accurate personnel lists, recording dates, soloists, composers, arrangers, locations, song titles, and labels. 1 Sparke's new book, Stan Kenton: This Is An Orchestra!, takes its title from the opening and closing lines of the narrative spoken and later shouted by Kenton on his 1953 recording, Prologue. If Kenton was enthusiastic about his band and its music, Sparke is no less exuberant when he writes about the subjects he clearly loves. It makes for delightful reading and offers enriching and authoritative insights into the life and music of Kenton, as well as the lives and music of the many outstanding musicians with whom Kenton worked from his first truly professional job in 1933 as pianist with the Everett Hoagland band to May 4, 1979, when the band bus that served as his last home on the road was sold.

The book is organized chronologically and divided into thirty-two brief chapters plus "Prelude" and "Postlude." The chapters average only about eight to [End Page 268] ten pages each; consequently, few subjects are treated in depth. In some ways this book might be considered a well-fleshed-out outline of Kenton's personal life and professional career, thus fulfilling the mission of the press's series, North Texas Lives of Musicians. It is more than a narrative account, however, for Sparke fills his book with annotated quotations from a remarkable number of people central to the life and work of Stan Kenton, the bandleader, pianist, arranger, composer, father, and husband. A true bonus for the reader is the collection of forty outstanding photographs with all the visible musicians in the various bands identified. 2 Sparke writes well, in a clear but relaxed manner. Most of the time he refers to the musicians on a first-name basis. He is not afraid or unwilling to insert his own professional judgment about the success or failure of this or that style or the mediocrity or compelling mastery of any player or arranger. All in all, Sparke's biography/history is an engrossing read for amateur and professional alike.

Having noted all these strengths, one must also note a major disappointment with the book. There is much personal opinion, and while both the author and his interviewees' judgments are basically sound, the book contains virtually no critical analysis—exposition, evidence, analysis, conclusion. One might expect this as normal and proper for a biography, but Sparke justifies the writing of this particular book in the wake of a series of books about Stan Kenton with these words: ". . . the time was right for a critical analysis of Kenton's music and his personal role in its creation" (ix). But opinion and analysis are not the same, of course, and in this case there is much of the former and little or none of the latter. For example, when writing about the music of the Artistry [in Rhythm] Orchestra of the mid-1940s, the author quotes Bill Russo in paragraph 1, Stan Kenton in paragraph 2, Milt Bernhart in paragraph 3, Phil Herring in paragraph 4, Bernhart again in paragraph 5, and so on—authoritative opinions, yes, but critical analyses, no. Sparke's narrative then glues these serial quotations together and summarizes them into an opinion which is essentially correct:

Both in person and on records, the Artistry music sounded RIGHT. The musicians knew it, and the audiences instinctively sensed that this band was HOT. The best of Stan's music had a magical, almost mystical quality, that exerted a profound influence...

pdf

Share