Stan Kenton was in big trouble. His previous album “Solo: Stan Kenton Without His Orchestra” doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page, so you know it must have sounded bad, right? After all, I’m sure your spouse is someone the “free market” picked for you, right?
(Authors Note: Sarcasm is only used for humor, or to surprise the reader in order to re-think their position)
The hottest thing in the world was this band from Chicago called……… CHICAGO!
Stan Kenton once said in an interview that, “The moment we (musical pioneers) need to use material from the new kids in jazz, it’s probably time for us to hang it up”.
Quite a statement! Oddly enough, most bands get their start playing covers. Some bands do the opposite, and some just do whatever they feel. Ego might not allow a big band leader to use “those long-haired punks from the farms of Illinois” described by BeatDown Magazine editor Umberto D. Weinstein.
As per Curnow himself, "That was a remarkable and very difficult time for me. I was managing (Stan's) record company with NO experience in business, writing music like mad, living in a new place and culture (Los Angeles was another world), traveling a LOT (out with the band at least 1 week a month) and trying to keep it together at home."[5]
"The music (from the Chicago LP) represented something different for Stan's image," said Curnow. "We had just done 7.5 On the Richter Scale with some pretty wild things on there, including my chart of Paul McCartney's Live and Let Die. It was a very successful album, so we decided to follow it up with the music of Chicago."1
Rolling Stone magazine named it #4 Best Jazz Album in their Top 100 Countdown from 2019.
Stan decided to have a party to celebrate the success, especially since this would be the first time in years he could afford to throw a party.
“Who’s going to host?” asked an unknown business associate in a grey suit; a color more somber than black.
“Mort. Who else?” replied Stan.
“All the young people love him too!” shouted his daughter, Leslie.
So, naturally, Stan phoned his buddy. He told him he was having another party, but this time, the guys from Chicago were to be in attendance, and that Kenton wanted to thank them in person for allowing him to use their songs for “Kenton Plays Chicago”. A private party after a private party.
“There was a very special night that was off limits to the general public at Donte’s Jazz Club in North Hollywood. California. But the famed nitery was far from shuttered, for inside, the SRO crowd was made up of the “who's who” in the Jazz profession, gathered together for an evening of good old-fashioned “winging it.” For such a group of top flight musicians to meet al a Jazz club, sans instruments, evidences a very special occasion, and it certainty was. Hosted by Stan Kenton, Mort Sahl, Shelly Manne and Frank Rosolino, the evening became one or happy nostalgia, personal side lights about fouled up club dates, one nighters and, most of all. laughter; for aside from his creative talents, the most gratifyingly special gilt a Jazz musician has is the ability to laugh at himself. They talked or many things…foolish things…nearly forgotten things…personal things…and everybody had a three hour ball. With Kenton leading the strokes with a deftness that only someone so intimately associated with these talented guys could parry, the evening’s momentum never wavered, and when the wee small hours rolled around, the entire audience knew they had taken part in a unique experience. This album is the result of “that very special evening.” Mort Sahl, although not a musician, has become an intimate and knowledgeable spokesman and friend of the Jazz fraternity. As Stan so ably puts it, “Mort is the classic epitome of comedic talent. Like the Jazz musician, his material is always improvisational, a bit mind bending and always right on target.” Shelly Manne and Frank Rosolino, who both played with the Kenton aggregations, reflect on fellow musicians, string players, playing behind the beat, and those long, dull cross-country bus rides going from one gig to another. Med Flory and Harry “Sweets” Edison provoke near hysteria with their comments on experiences with driving cars for Claude Thornhill, “advancement” in the music business and note holding with Count Basie. lt’s all here…well, most of it anyway, just the way it happened that night at Donte’s. As you listen to the album, quite possibly you can visualize the scene yourself and as you scan the room, you’ll see what kind of company you’re in. Back there in a corner booth is Don Bagley, Dee Barton, Louis Bellson, Milt Bernhart and Pete Condoli. Up at a front row center table sits Benny Carter, nationally famous Jazz columnist Leonard Feather, Bob Cooper and one-time Kenton vocalist June Christy, Bill Holman, Calvin Jackson, Hank Mancini, Don Menza and Dave Rose, as well as the members of the band Chicago - Walt Parazaider, Danny Seraphine, Terry Kath, James Pankow, Lee Loughnane, and Peter Cetera . Standing at the bar is Pete Rugolo, Howard Rumsey, Bud Shank, Gerald Wilson, Dick Shearer and Nick Ceroli. And holding forth around the rest of the smoke-filled room are more Jazz afficianados whose names would fill most of these liner notes, as they have in countless albums. It was quite an impressive group to spend an evening with, yet not a note was heard; simply because it was an evening with friends, friends who play Jazz, great Jazz, and got together to swap “remember whens.” We had an unprecedented ball putting this album together and hope you’ll have a ball listening to it and getting the same kicks we did. It was the musician’s night of, but what a night it turned out to be.”2
After the show, everyone was introduced. Suddenly, Leslie Kenton came in, telling her father that he had a phone call. After a brief, awkward silence, Robert said how much he enjoyed Mort’s KTTV show, and sent a letter when they fired him.
“I got 30,000 letters, and one from you. I appreciate it. They re-hired me back after they said there was an ‘error’ with the rating. No, the error was theirs. They underestimate the impact you guys have. And I must say, although I am a jazzer, I dug your populist, anti-war message. A poem for the people. I especially dug
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Harris, Steven. (2000) "The Kenton Kronicles". Dynaflow Publications. pp. 268
https://allthingskenton.com/table_of_contents/recordings/creative_world/private_party/
Chicago Meets Mort Sahl