1963 · Album
Adventures in Blues
Recorded Late 1961 · Capitol Records · Arranger: [Gene Roland]
Twenty Horns Find Their Swing
Kenton's last great orchestra, swinging hard on Roland's arrangements for a big band that rarely got to cut loose.
By late 1961, the Stan Kenton Orchestra had become famous for its ambitious, sometimes unwieldy sound—twenty horns deployed like a modernist composer's canvas. For Adventures in Blues (1963), Kenton brought in Gene Roland to write the arrangements, a decision that changed everything about how the band sounded. Roland was known for something Kenton's usual charts sometimes lacked: genuine swing. With that many horns at his disposal, he managed variety instead of overwhelm, letting sections breathe and answering each other across the studio.
The recordings captured something that had eluded many Kenton sessions—a band that actually grooved. AllMusic reviewer Scott Yanow called it one of the finer recordings by the Mellophonium Band, the orchestra's last great incarnation. William Grim on All About Jazz went further, arguing this was the most swinging of all Kenton's albums, proof that when the material demanded it, the orchestra could compete with anything in jazz on pure swing alone.
This is not Kenton trying to out-modern himself or chasing some orchestral ideal. It's a big band doing the blues, and that shift in purpose—letting Roland's sense of timing and Roland's ear for what actually grooves drive the date—makes it worth investigating if you've dismissed Kenton as all ambition and no feel. The horn work is clean, the solos breathe, and the charts don't collapse under their own weight.
Who's playing
Pat Senatorebass
Stan Kentonpiano
Buddy Arnoldsaxophone
Gabe Baltazarsaxophone
Allan Beutlersaxophone
Joel Kayesaxophone
Paul Renzisaxophone
Norman Baltazartrumpet
Bob Behrendttrumpet
Bob Rolfetrumpet
Dalton Smithtrumpet
Marvin Stammtrumpet
Jim Amlottetrombone
Dee Bartontrombone
Bob Fitzpatricktrombone
Bud Parkertrombone
Dave Wheelertrombone
Jerry McKenziedrums
Dwight Carvermellophone
Keith LaMottemellophone
Carl Saundersmellophone
Ray Starlingmellophone
Where next?
More by Stan Kenton
All 37 albums →
