The Stage Door Swings

• Artist: Stan Kenton
• Rating:
• Release Date: September 22, 1958
• Genre: Jazz

Review

Stan Kenton's orchestra was never the place to hear a nice tune played sweetly; arrangers including Kenton himself, Pete Rugolo, Bob Graettinger, and Bill Holman commonly emphasized the progressive end of jazz -- advanced harmonics, complex charts, powerful soloists -- much more than such a simple thing as swing. When Kenton decided to record an album of show tunes in 1958, however, he proceeded directly to Lennie Niehaus. Niehaus, an altoist with the Kenton band beginning nearly a decade earlier, had written a chart for "Pennies from Heaven" in 1953 that proved to be a highlight of the Sketches on Standards LP. (Kenton would probably have chosen Bill Russo, who had helmed his two previous standards LPs of the '50s, but he had left the band a few years earlier.) Kenton's band of 1958 didn't boast the firepower of earlier editions, but new arrivals Jack Sheldon and Bill Trujillo contribute a lot to the highlight, "The Party's Over" (which, Michael Sparke's liner notes tell us, was often used by the contrarian Kenton to begin his sets). Elsewhere, Niehaus gives himself a feature on the hard-swinging "Baubles, Bangles & Beads." ~ John Bush, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Lullaby of Broadway	Al Dubin, Harry Warren	Stan Kenton	(2:42)
The Party's Over		Stan Kenton	(2:58)
Baubles, Bangles and Beads	G. Forrest, R. Douglas Wright	Stan Kenton	(2:45)
Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye	Cole Porter	Stan Kenton, Jack Sheldon	(3:18)
Whatever Lola Wants		Stan Kenton	(2:29)
Bali Ha'i		Stan Kenton, Bill Perkins	(2:05)
Hey There	Jerry Ross, Richard Adler	Stan Kenton, Lennie Niehaus	(2:32)
Younger Than Springtime		Stan Kenton, Jack Sheldon	(3:00)
On the Street Where You Live	Frederick Loewe	Stan Kenton	(2:12)
I Love Paris	Cole Porter	Stan Kenton, Kent Larsen	(2:28)
I've Never Been in Love Before	Frank Loesser	Stan Kenton, Jack Sheldon	(3:14)
All at Once You Love Her		Stan Kenton, Bill Perkins	(2:39)

Credits

Bill Catalano (Trumpet), Jack Sheldon (Trumpet), Jerry McKenzie (Drums), Bob Olson (Trombone (Bass)), Jim Amlotte (Trombone), Bill Perkins (Sax (Tenor)), Bob Olson (Trombone (Bass)), Lee Gillette (Audio Production), Billy Smiley (Trombone (Bass)), Bill Trujillo (Sax (Tenor)), Lennie Niehaus (Arranger), Stephen Perlow (Sax (Baritone)), Lee Gillette (Producer), Stan Kenton (Bandleader), Red Kelly (Bass), Michael Cuscuna (Reissue Producer), Archie LeCoque (Trombone), Stephen Perlow (Sax (Tenor)), Stan Kenton (Piano), Lennie Niehaus (Sax (Alto)), Bill Smiley (Trombone (Bass)), Bud Brisbois (Trumpet), Bill Robinson (Sax (Tenor)), Kent Larsen (Trombone), Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (Sax (Baritone)), Frank Huggins (Trumpet), Ron McMaster (Mastering), Al Sunseri (Trumpet), Michael Sparke (Liner Notes), Billy Catelano (Trumpet)