Stan Kenton: This Is an Orchestra!

24. Delights and Disappointments (1967-1969)

207 24. Delights and Disappointments (1967–1969) With the children growing up fast, Kenton felt able to leave home in 1967 for two three-month tours, which combined with all the local gigs made the band feel less part-timeish. A number of sidemen had made it their priority to stick with Stan in preference to other jobs, including Jay Saunders (tp), Ray Reed (as), Bill Fritz (bs), and John Worster (b), as well as a near-complete trombone section of Dick Shearer, Tom Whittaker, Jim Amlotte, and Graham Ellis, bringing a much-needed sense of stability. And now two newcomers, the powerful trumpet of Jay Daversa and the dynamic returnee Dee Barton on drums invigorated and revitalized the organization. The band was in better shape than for a number of years. Tantara’s Road Band ‘67 proves this was a Kenton orchestra worthy of the name, sparked by the exuberant Barton drums, and aided by the superb bass of John Worster. This remarkable rhythm section both cushioned and drove the orchestra at the same time, providing a strong foundation for the rest of the band to build upon, while in Daversa and Reed, Kenton had soloists of world-class dimension. “Jay grew up in the LA area, and was always a very original player,” observed Dick Shearer. “He often had a boppish style, but whatever was called for Jay had it down, a fantastic reader with excellent technique and range.” “Daversa played quite conservatively when he first joined the band,” added Bill Fritz, “but as time went by his solos became farther out and more angry.”1 Whichever , Jay was good enough to have Miles Davis ask Stan his name when the band played the Village Gate in New York, an accolade more worthy than any poll award! “Ray Reed,” said Shearer, “was a very serious guy, very thoughtful about what he did, a very academic player. He practiced all the time. Whenever we’d get to the hotel, he’d go to his room and practice. Ray had a willowy appearance, but his physique was all right, he just looked that way.” Essentially a melodic player, Reed’s personal signature was 208 Stan Kenton: This Is an Orchestra! one of Bill Fritz’ best arrangements, the classic Kurt Weill-Ira Gershwin ballad “My Ship,” which Stan never saw fit to Capitol-record. Ray never played the piece the same way twice, but always inspirational ideas cascade from his horn in a waterfall of notes that leave the listener—if not Reed—breathless. Over the tour Reed was influenced by Daversa, and his playing became more far-out when they soloed together on the pieces now being introduced into the band by Dee Barton. Barton was a prolific writer, though by no means was all of his work accepted by Stan. When Dee wrote well he took the music into a new dimension, but according to Fritz, “Barton brought in several nice pieces, but the vast majority of his work was utterly tasteless. Dee wrote something for the Neophonic called ‘Passion Suite,’ and after the rehearsal one of the horn-players commented, ‘If that is his idea of love, I’d hate to be his wife!’” On the other hand, Dee’s striking arrangement of “Here’s That Rainy Day” really appealed to Stan, and its ultra-slow, funereal tempo set the style for ballad-writing well into the next decade. But instead of recording this and some of Fritz’ charts on his next Capitol album, Kenton preferred to play only his own arrangements, presumably for commercial reasons, because they were not always the best. The World We Know was a mix of newer ballads, as always, alas, sans solos, and some brighter numbers, though the two clichéd originals “Interchange ” (a reworking of “Five Before Four”) and “Changing Times” indicated only that Stan should leave the writing of unusual time signatures to those more conversant with the art. Commercially, “Girl Talk” hit the button, as did the up-tempo “Sunny,” a happy, snappy tune by Bobby Hebb that is unashamedly entertaining, but in jazz terms far inferior to the “Southern Scandal” and “Painted Rhythm” of 20 years earlier. Fortunately, the album also features Stan’s last recorded concert orchestration. “Gloomy Sunday” contains all the elements of surprise and adventure one looks for in Kenton: an impressive combination of exciting counterpoint with dramatic shifts in tempo, a good sense of symmetry, some fine lead trombone work by Dick Shearer, and...