Stan Kenton: This Is an Orchestra!

3. Hanging On (1942-1943)

21 3. Hanging On (1942–1943) New Jersey’s Meadowbrook was one of America’s more popular dance spots, so when the band was shunted out of there halfway through the engagement, Kenton knew the outlook was rough. He would have to play pop songs and accept whatever bookings GAC offered. Actually, a lot of the “pops” that entered the book, like “Skylark ,” “Serenade in Blue,” “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree,” and “I Had the Craziest Dream” were considerably better than the second-rate schmaltz that Red Dorris had been featuring. Stan’s first theatre date (a combination of vaudeville and featured movie) actually brought him back to NYC in March 1942, but to Brooklyn rather than Manhattan, and at the somewhat less than illustrious Flatbush Theatre. Whatever, the audience sat and listened during the band spot, so in that respect it resembled a concert setting, and Kenton premiered a new work he had written in different tempos and symphonic style indicative of the direction Stan eventually wanted the band to take. Titled “Concerto to End All Concertos,” the strong melody was one of Kenton’s most enduring compositions, first recorded in 1946, and played regularly for a further decade. Stan explained, “I wrote ‘Concerto’ because I wanted people to hear a little of the trumpets and trombones, as well as the soloists. We used it as a showpiece, and made kind of a production out of it.”1 The normal hazards of establishing a new band were now compounded by the war, which restricted travelling and meant constant changes in personnel as musicians fell victim to the draft. Others left of their own accord, including Howard Rumsey, the first of many Kenton bass players who would dissent with the drummer over time-keeping and who also regretted the loss of the “family feeling” that had inspired the original Balboa band. By the end of 1942 more than half the men who had played at Balboa were gone, as Stan recalled: “There was a constant flow of musicians coming and going all the time, and there was 22 Stan Kenton: This Is an Orchestra! always a scuffle to find musicians to replace those who had been drafted. I recall once a guitar player that I hired to take the place of a fellow who had been inducted, received his own induction papers before he’d even played a note with the band.”2 Nor could Kenton afford to pay the high salaries the top guys could command. During the early Forties it was a real struggle to keep the band together at all, let alone make any money, and Stan (himself a married man with a baby to support) lived literally hand to mouth. Bob Gioga, in his role as Band Manager, proved a constant source of support to Kenton, both by his handling of everyday affairs in running the band, and maintaining morale when it was most needed. Bob would be the only member of the original Balboa outfit to survive without a break into the Fifties, finally surrendering his baritone chair in 1953. Despite all the difficulties, Kenton strove continually to improve his band. Because he spent so little time himself at the piano, for most of 1942 Stan hired Ted Repay, the only full-time pianist other than Kenton ever to play in the band. But then Stan let him go because he missed the luxury of slipping into the piano seat himself whenever the mood arose. To compensate, Stan hired a fourth trumpet player to raise the level of the brass, and replaced Eve Knight with Dolly Mitchell—but still tended to rely on Red Dorris as his principal singer! But as always, it was the writers who brought new ideas into the band. Ken Hanna (then just 21 years old) didn’t have his own sound, but was adept at copying other people’s. (Hanna’s 1947 “Somnambulism” sounds more like Rugolo than Rugolo!) Ken studied the band’s Decca recordings and learned what made Stanley tick before presenting himself to Kenton, who recalled: “Ken Hanna was the first guy I ever met, even before Rugolo, who had the same feeling as me. Ken came to a rehearsal and we hadn’t played more than 16 bars when I realized he wrote exactly as I did, and I couldn’t believe it.”3 Stan hired Hanna to add to the band’s pop library. Dorris vocals included “One Dozen Roses” and “I Left...