Stan Kenton: The Studio Sessions: A Discography

In the years since the publication of 'Kenton on Capitol and Creative World,' Michael Sparkes has turned up a huge trove of information about the official recordings of Stan Kenton and the people involved in creating them. This is a completely revised version of the early book, incorporating some 70 pages of new material

Full details on the MacGregor transcriptions; Detailed notes on every official Kenton LP; the background, intention and realization of the music as explained by the musicians themselves; original document examples from Capitol's files; new take numbers; original session A&R producers.

This book covers Kenton's 40 years on record - every recording date, every release, every version, unissued recordings studio transcriptions, details on matrix numbers, alternative titles, release numbers, dates, places, people, thousands of facts, including things even the most ardent Kenton fan doesn't know.

Stanley Newcomb "Stan" Kenton was a pianist, composer, and arranger who led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. Kenton was a salient figure on the American musical scene and made an indelible mark on the arranged type of big band jazz. Kenton's music evolved with the times throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and although he was no longer considered a contemporary innovator, he promoted jazz and jazz improvisation through his service as an educator. The "Kenton Style" continues to permeate big bands at the high school and collegiate level, and the framework he designed for the "jazz clinic" is still widely in use today. His music has experienced a resurgence in interest, with later critical "rediscovery" of his music and many reissues of his recordings. An alumni band tours to this day, led by lead trumpeter Mike Vax, which performs not only classic Kenton arrangements, but also new music written and performed in the Kenton style.