Cuban Fire!
Cuban Fire! | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Afro-Cuban music | ||||
Length | 54:00 | |||
Label | Capitol | |||
Producer | Lee Gillette (LP) Ted Daryll (CD reissue) | |||
Stan Kenton chronology | ||||
|
Cuban Fire! is an album by
Background and composition
Though
Of all the writers in the Kenton stable of names, Richards was the best suited for the task of creating such music for the Kenton orchestra. Richards was bilingual (Spanish/English) and was born in
Recording
The original LP and recording sessions were completed on a highly compressed timeline.[4] Before the first notes of Recuerdos and Fuego Cubano where recorded on May 22, 1956, Kenton and his orchestra had been on a two-month tour of Europe (set sail back from Cherbourg, France to New York on May 10) with only having looked at "El Congo Valiente" beforehand.[4][5] The band had less than a week to prepare while in New York. While the great majority of the personnel for the LP was on tour, Richards had taken great care to meticulously rehearse the suite with the Latin percussionists who would be added for three days of recording.[4]
Though the listing for the liner notes contains six trumpets, only five are called for in Richards' scores. Due to the 'heavy lifting' the music required for the brass section, a rotation of trumpet players was utilized on the sessions.[4] A discarded part of the suite entitled "Alma Pecadora" (Soul of a Sinner) with the heading "Cuban Fire Suite" had been rejected due to quality issues as compared to the other movements.[4] "Tres Corazones" (three hearts) is recorded on May 24 as the last of the three days but never makes it on the Cuban Fire! LP pressing; it does appear on a later Kenton LP release for Capitol Records in 1965.[4][6] (disputed as to this cut being a part of the suite).[4]
Soloists
Soloists are abundant on the original recording of the Cuban Fire! suite; the most interesting of them being the tenor saxophonist Lucky Thompson. The Thompson tenor solos on the second half of "Fuego Cubano" and the up tempo "Quien Sabe" are a new addition and contrast to the normal style and harmonic/melodic practices of known Kenton tenor sidemen Bill Perkins, Zoot Sims, and later Bill Trujillo.[7] Along with the addition of Thompson, jazz musicians including Carl Fontana, Lennie Niehaus, Sam Noto, and Mel Lewis are prominent in solo spots adding to the status of the dates. Thompson and Curtis Counce (bass) on the Cuban Fire! sessions (and previous tour) serve as positive credits in the dispelling of myth about Kenton having racist tendencies towards the hiring of sidemen.
CD reissue
The tracks on the Cuban Fire! CD numbered 8-12 are an interesting set of recordings from a time of change for the Kenton orchestra beginning in 1960. These, along with two other recorded tracks, were intended to comprise an entirely fresh Stan Kenton LP release for Capitol Records later that year from the newly formed
Oddly, Johnny Richards' Wagon (On The Wagon) is one of the most interesting tracks on the 1991 re-issue and was originally issued on a Kenton compilation LP from the 1970s by Capitol Records years after the band had gone with Creative World Records (Kenton's own label).[11] Kenton was greatly criticized over the years for having bands that did not swing like the bands of Woody Herman, Count Basie, or Duke Ellington. This one track composed by Richards (one of only two swing, non-Afro Latin cuts from the CD) proves wrong any doubts about the Kenton band being able to compete against the aforementioned bands. The alto saxophone solo by Gabe Baltazar on Wagon is formidable and a real highlight of his tenure with Kenton; easily comparable to solos of earlier alto players with the band such as Lee Konitz, Lennie Niehaus, or Charlie Mariano.[12] Ironically, the once maligned fledgling mellophonium band (and poor tuning) is later praised for its 'imposing testimony' on Richards' first scores for the group.[13]
In 1960 Kenton also has the instrumentation of the sax section changed to alto/tenor/tenor/baritone/baritone or
Release and reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [17] |
Chicago Tribune | negative[18] |
The
Track listing
All tracks are written by Johnny Richards (original LP) and all others except Gene Roland for track #10 and Stan Kenton for #12
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Fuego Cubano (Cuban Fire)" | 6:02 |
2. | "El Congo Valiente (Valiant Congo)" | 5:53 |
3. | "Recuerdos (Reminiscences)" | 5:01 |
4. | "Quien Sabe (Who Knows)" | 4:49 |
5. | "La Guera Baila (The Fair One Dances)" | 5:09 |
6. | "La Suerte de los Tontos (Fortune of Fools or Fools Luck)" | 4:20 |
7. | "Tres Corazones (Three Hearts)" | 2:59 |
8. | "Malibu Moonlight (Sonatine)" | 3:51 |
9. | "El Panzon" | 4:34 |
10. | "Carnival (Carnival Square)" | 5:21 |
11. | "Wagon (original score entitled "On The Wagon")" | 3:05 |
12. | "Early Hours (Lady Luck)" | 2:56 |
Total length: | 54:00 |
- Tracks 1-6 comprised the original Capitol T-731, Cuban Fire! LP (1956)
- Track 7 is first issued on Capitol T-20244 (UK), Fabulous Alumni of Stan Kenton LP (1963)
- Track 8 & 9 are first issued on Creative World ST-1066, Kenton By Request Vol. 5 LP (1972)
- Track 10 is first issued on Creative World ST-1040, Kenton By Request Vol. 2 LP (1966)
- Track 11 is first issued on Capitol, M-11027, Capitol Jazz Classics Vol. 2: Stan Kenton LP (1972)
- Track 12 is first issued on Creative World ST-1069, Kenton By Request Vol. 6 LP (1990)
Recording sessions
- May 22–24, 1956 in New York City at the Riverside Plaza Hotel [21]
- Tracks 1-7 (in mono)
- These were recorded in the three days of sessions in New York but "Tres Corazones" was not included as part of the suite on the original Cuban Fire! LP at the behest of Johnny Richards.[22]
- September 19–21, 1960 in Hollywood CA at Capitol Tower Studios[23]
- Tracks 8-12 (in stereo)
- Gene Roland's "Ten Bars Ago" was recorded on Sept. 21 and has been re-issued on the 4 CD set Stan Kenton Retrospective - The Capitol Years (1992, Blue Note Records, ASN B000ULGNUU)
- Stan Kenton's "Midnight Tales" was also recorded on Sept. 21 but has never been issued.[24]
Personnel
Musicians
May 22–24, 1956
- Piano, Conductor – Stan Kenton
- Alto saxophone – Lennie Niehaus
- Tenor saxophone – Bill Perkins, Lucky Thompson
- Baritone saxophone – Bill Root
- Trumpet – Al Mattaliano, Ed Leddy, Lee Katzman, Phil Gilbert, Sam Noto, Vinnie Tanno
- French Horn – Irving Rosenthal, Julius Watkins
- Trombone – Bob Fitzpatrick, Carl Fontana, Don Kelly, Kent Larson
- Tuba – Jim McAllister
- Guitar – Ralph Blaze
- Bass – Curtis Counce
- Drums – Mel Lewis
- Timpani – George Gaber, Saul Gubin
- Maracas – Mario Alvarez
- Bongos – Willie Rodriguez
- Claves – Roger Mozian
- Timbales – George Laguna
- Congas – Tommy Lopez
September 19–21, 1960
- Piano, Conductor – Stan Kenton
- Conductors – Johnny Richards, Gene Roland
- Alto saxophone – Gabe Baltazar
- Tenor saxophone – San Donahue, Paul Renzi
- Baritone saxophone – Marvin Holladay
- Baritone saxophone, bass saxophone– Wayne Dustan
- Trumpet – Bud Brisbois, Dalton Smith, Sam Noto, Bob Rolfe, Steve Huffsteter, Johnny Audino (Audino first two days only, cuts 8-11)
- Mellophonium – Dwight Carver, Joe Burnett, Bill Horan, Tom Wirtel - and Gene Roland (Roland solos only on Early Hours)
- Trombone – Dick Hyde, Ray Sikora
- Bass trombone – Jim Amlotte, Bob Knight
- Tuba – Albert Pollan
- Bass – Pete Chivily
- Drums – Art Anton
- Bongos/congas – George Acevedo
Technical
- Producer: Lee Gillette
- Re-issue (CD) producer: Ted Daryl
- Digital transfers (CD): Jay Ranellucci and Joe Brescio
- Design (CD): Franko Caligiuri/Ink Well, Inc.
- Liner notes (CD): Ted Daryl
References
- ^ Billboard Top 100 LPs, pp. 417
- ISBN 978-0-07-245179-5.
- ISBN 1-57441-284-1.
- ^ ISBN 0-936653-82-5.
- ^ a b c Daryll, Ted (1991). Cuban Fire! CD liners notes. Capitol Jazz, Blue Note Records. CDP 7962602
- ^ Fabulous Alumni of Stan Kenton, Capitol Records (1965), LP T20244, cut #6 on the B side
- ^ Cooper, Jack (1996). Lucky Thompson tenor solos (2) from Cuban Fire!, transcriptions and analysis for doctoral paper presented at the University of Texas at Austin, from personal collection of Dr. Jack T. Cooper, University of Memphis
- ^ Sparke, pp. 146-147, the Kenton mellophonium band had recorded 'pop' tracks in March and July of that year for singers Nat King Cole and Ann Richards, these were not as nearly demanding as the entirely instrumental charts written for the September sessions
- ^ Sparke, p. 149, to be Project 46272-01, Capitol Records
- ^ Sparke, p. 149
- ^ Capitol Jazz Classics, vol. 2, Stan Kenton and His Orchestra, Artistry in Jazz, rare and previously unissued compositions, LP M-11027
- ^ Cooper, Jack. Gabe Baltazar alto saxophone solo from Wagon, transcriptions and analysis, from personal collection of Dr. Jack T. Cooper, University of Memphis (2011)
- ^ Liner notes from Pete Venudor
- ^ Billboard Magazine, Sept. 1, 1956, review. September 1956.
- ^ The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, 5th Edition, Richard Cook and Brian Morton
- ^ "Review, Down Beat, original from 1956, supplied on All Things Kenton". Archived from the original on 2015-10-01. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
- ^ a b "All Music Guide, SCOTT YANOW, review". AllMusic.
- ^ a b "Review of re-issue, Chicago Tribune, JACK FULLER, September 29, 1991".
- ^ Broomer, Stuart. "Stan Kenton - Cuban Fire!". Amazon. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
- ISBN 9781452082813.
- ^ Sparke & Venudor, pp. 120-121
- ^ Sparke & Venudor, p. 121
- ^ Sparke & Venudor, pp. 148-149
- ^ Sparke & Venudor, p. 148
External links
- Catalog record for Cuban Fire! at the United States Library of Congress
- "Fuego Cubano" on YouTube
- Cuban Fire! at Discogs
- Cuban Fire! at AllMusic
- Cuban Fire! at MusicBrainz
- OCLC 24039248