Stan Kenton: This Is an Orchestra!

14. "Kenton Presents Jazz" (1954-1955)

117 14. “Kenton Presents Jazz” (1954–1955) After a short breather, the Festival of Modern American Jazz reassembled in January 1954 minus Slim Gaillard and Stan Getz. Slim’s comedy spot was replaced by the less-than-frivolous alto of Lee Konitz, whose demeanor had frequently suggested his rightful place was featured artist rather than mere band member. Getz was serving a spell in prison for drug use. The irony is that Getz’ position was filled by Charlie Parker, an even more notorious user of banned substances. Kenton’s attitude to illegal drugs was unambivalent—he didn’t want them on his band—but as much because of the bad publicity a bust would bring than because he failed to recognize some sort of stimulant was often necessary to make tolerable the grind of “The Road.” His own vices were legal—cigarettes and vodka—but at the same time he often tolerated known addicts on the band. Gene Roland is a prime example, and in 1948 he had fired the little-known but talented trombonist Parky Groate, while retaining the services of the equally culpable Art Pepper. Several guys in the ’70s indicated to me that “weed” (marijuana) was quite widely practiced, and so long as you didn’t make it obvious, Stan turned a blind eye. At the very least, Stan’s attitude made the guys careful , and hence less likely to be detected. Whatever, the anti-bebop Kenton now had the art’s two leading exponents —Bird and Diz—playing with the band at the same time, though never together; each had his own spot on the show. Stan had always admired Parker’s playing, but by 1954 Bird’s excesses meant he was well past his prime, and was actually within one year of his premature death at age 34. Conversely, Konitz was at his peak, and Lee told me, “One day I ran into Max Roach, and he told me, ‘The word is out that you’re cutting Bird.’ Of course, I’d come back to a situation I was familiar with, and Parker didn’t have that advantage. Plus, he was juicing. After that, Dizzy took Bird aside and told him, ‘This young ofay is cutting you, you’d better get on top of it.’” 118 Stan Kenton: This Is an Orchestra! The normally disorganized Parker had arrived with only one arrangement to play, the Joe Lipman big-band chart on “Night and Day.” After Bird declined to be featured on a retitled “Zoot,” because he felt it was too closely identified with Sims, Kenton commissioned Holman to rush through two arrangements for Parker, and a couple of weeks later Bird was happily playing the super-fast “Cherokee” and the contrasting ballad “My Funny Valentine,” both ideal designs to showcase America’s alto ace. Despite the competitive situation, Konitz and Parker became close. “Bird was a very friendly man,” commented Lee, “but he could also be crafty. I had lent him $10, and one day as we boarded the bus I asked him if he could pay back the loan, and he said OK, and the first person that came on the bus he asked to lend him $10, and he gave it to me! One time, Charlie asked me to stay with him at the black hotel, and I was very touched. We had adjoining rooms, and he asked me to join him with my horn and we talked a little bit about my low register, and played ‘Donna Lee’ together. But Bird wasn’t in good shape, he could hardly get through it.” Bill Perkins confirmed: “Bird was very close to his last legs on that tour, and sadly most of the time he was pretty stoned. But on those rare nights, say one out of seven, when he was not completely stoned on drugs, Dizzy always knew and would be standing in the wings, listening to Bird play. Because the stoned Parker could still play (he’d done it all his life, sadly enough), but when he wasn’t stoned it was just absolutely awesome. So I treasure that memory. And when he wasn’t stoned Bird was the warmest, kindest individual—no hip talk, no jive talk from him—he was very, very well-spoken, a very intelligent man with a lot of knowledge, as well as the greatest saxophone player that ever lived.” Kenton was aware of Bird’s vulnerability: “Charlie was a magnificent humanitarian, with a great feeling for...