Stan Kenton Plays Chicago

Up to the time of Stan Kenton Plays Chicago the band had primarily made recordings of music that were swing oriented with progressive leanings. The 1969 Capitol release of Stan Kenton: the music of 'HAIR'[1] was the only other time Stan Kenton had an entire LP move beyond a style and genre which the Kenton 'brand name' had been built on since 1943. He had no involvement in the Hair LP except for Kenton's name placed on the jacket cover; Ralph Carmichael and Lennie Niehaus were placed in charge of the project. Capitol producer Lee Gillette was trying to exploit the money making possibilities of the popular 1968 musical featuring contemporary rock music.[1] Due to lack of promotion by Capitol, the LP was a financial failure; this would be the last release for Kenton under he aegis of Capitol.[1]

The transition from Capitol to Creative World Records in 1970 was fraught with difficulties during a time when the music business was changing rapidly. As a viable jazz artist who was trying to keep a loyal but dwindling following, Kenton turned to arrangers such as Hank Levy and Bob Curnow to write material that appealed to a younger audience.[1] The first releases for the Creative World label were live concerts and Kenton had the control he wanted over content but lacked substantial resources to engineer, mix, and promote what Capitol underwrote in the past. Kenton would take a big gamble to bypass the current record industry and rely far more on the direct mail lists of jazz fans which the newly formed Creative World label would need to sell records.[2]

In June 1973 Curnow had started as the new artists and repertoire manager overseeing the whole operation of the Creative World Records.[3] It was just the year before (in 1972) the Kenton orchestra recorded the National Anthems of the World double LP with 40 arrangements all done by Curnow.[4] 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."[6] With the success of 7.5 On the Richter Scale and the waters tested with more contemporary material on more than half the LP, a path had been paved to create a recording that was entirely centered on a contemporary rock band.

The Stan Kenton Plays Chicago album was conceived, arranged, conducted, mixed and sequenced by Robert Curnow. He designed the LP cover, created the layout, chose the pictures and wrote some of the liner notes (Long time Kenton assistant Audree Coke did most of the writing for the liner notes on the jacket). It was first supposed to be a tribute album to Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears, at the last minute before the recording dates Kenton changed the idea on what the album would be; he wanted original material included. On very short notice Curnow re-wrote/arranged First Child and composed The Rise & Fall of a Short Fugue (Kenton came up came up with the title for the later during the recording of the LP). The band itself had very little time to prepare the music for the sessions, but that was the norm for many recording sessions done by a road band such as the Kenton orchestra.[5]

Stan Kenton Plays Chicago was recorded with no inter-cutting or over-dubbing throughout the entire Chicago LP; the sessions were recorded using a new process called DBX noise reduction.[8][9] The sessions were over a three-day period at Universal Studios in Chicago. On June 4 the tracks for the Chicago III Suite were put on tape: "Canon" (take 11 was used), "Mother" (take 2 was used), "Once Upon A Time" (take 4 was used) and "Free" (take 4 was used). The recording on June 5 (day two) consisted of: "Inner Crisis" (take 6 was used), "First Child" (take 12 was used), "Alone" (take 5 was used). The last day of recording, June 6, the takes consisted of: "The Rise and Fall of A Short Fugue" – middle (take 7), front (take 2), and end (take 3); later they were spiced together.[8]

All selections arranged and orchestrated by Robert Curnow.

• Easton, Carol (1973). "Straight Ahead: The Story of Stan Kenton". New York, N.Y.: William Morrow & Company, INC. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Sparke, Michael (2010). "Stan Kenton: This Is An Orchestra". Denton, TX: University of North Texas Press. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Sparke, Michael (1998). "Stan Kenton: The Studio Sessions". Lake Geneva, WI: Balboa Books. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Lee, William F. (1980). "Stan Kenton: Artistry in Rhythm". Los Angeles, CA: Creative Press. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Harris, Steven D. (2000). "The Stan Kenton Kronicles". Pasadena, CA: Dynaflow Publications. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Cook, Richard (2002). "The Penguin Guide To Jazz On CD (6th Edition)". London, England: Penguin Books. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

• Catalog record for Stan Kenton Plays Chicago at the United States Library of Congress
• Stan Kenton Plays Chicago at Allmusic