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Tony Morris writes about Stan Kenton
I was doing my National Service (1950-52) in the RAF, when I first heard Stan Kenton on AFN (the American Forces Network), which we listened to in the evenings. The tremendous powerhouse sound and precision of the instrumentalists amazed me.
In 1951, I was posted to Lytham, near Blackpool, where I was fortunate enough to work on Lytham railway station, meeting trains from all over Britain carrying airmen who, before they went abroad, had to go for their inoculations and clothing at the nearby Kirkham RAF camp. When they completed their preparations, we had to arrange troop trains to take them to their embarkation ports to travel for their tour of duty abroad. Whilst living in Lytham, I bought Stan Kenton records every week and soon had a large collection. I had taken my record player with me (as I lived in a local hotel) and took it to the railway station to pass the time, waiting for trains to arrive, by playing my collection of Stan Kenton 78 rpm records. I don't know what the local residents thought, but I never had any complaints from the stationmaster or any of his staff. The arriving airmen (all aged 18 to 30) certainly enjoyed the music, which passed the time whilst they were waiting for transport to take them to Kirkham! One passenger commented on the music, saying he was also a Stan Kenton fan. He was actually Bobby Pagan, a famous organist and broadcaster of the time, who was staying in Lytham but was appearing for the summer season at the Odeon cinema in Blackpool. I finished my National service in October 1952 but still continued to buy Stan's records - the more durable long-playing vinyl records had appeared by now but were quite expensive. The following year Stan and his orchestra were to tour Europe. They couldn't play for British audiences in England, due to a ban, but only gave concerts at a couple of the American camps. However, he was having two concerts at the Theatre Royal in Dublin. "Melody Maker", a popular jazz magazine of the time, arranged for trains to go to Holyhead and boats across the Irish sea to Dublin so that fans could buy an inclusive package to see the concerts.
I was lucky enough to see Stan and his orchestra on each of his visits to Britain right up to the last visit in 1976. |
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The first concert was at 3 p.m. and I had a seat in the stalls. The lights dimmed, the curtain went up, and the stage was in darkness. You could hear a pin drop. Then suddenly a wall of sound erupted. The musicians were all on stage! They played Stan's signature tune "Artistry in Rhythm". It was so different from what we had heard on records. I have heard it since, many times, but this first one was a revelation. The lights on the stage came on during the performance and Stan walked on from the side of the stage and what applause. Stan himself said that "when I heard these people yelling, I thought that my knees were going to crumble beneath me. the wildest concerts we ever performed were those in Dublin".