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• Remembering Maynard Fergusen
• Remembering Buddy Rich

Remembering Stan Kenton

BY MIDGE ELLIS

ne of the bands we booked at Clarenceville for three successive nights was Stan Kenton's. I have many great memories of him. You either loved his music or wondered what the hell he was trying to do. Kenton fans have an affinity for one another, as if they were family. Many prospective mates were dumped because they didn't like Kenton!

One of my favorite stories about Stan happened at Carnegie Hall in New York during the Newport Jazz Festival. My friend Eileene Standley and I never missed that festival. We got to know all the backstage crew so we could get backstage like all good groupies.

This particular concert featured both Kenton and Woody Herman. Now, there is some foolish notion among bandleaders that whoever plays second on a double bill is the star, and the first is nothing more than a warm-up. But what can a promoter do when there are two biggies like these? Well, George Wein did a coin flip and Woody lost. He went on first and was not a happy camper. It was during a time when Woody wasn't feeling too well and his fuse was kind of short.

Woody had a cabbie's whistle. When he blew it the band responded in a well-rehearsed manner. This brought the house down. The audience loved it and the only question was how Stan was going to follow that.

Stan sent across the street to the Sheraton Hotel and got a whistle from the doorman. When he got on stage he blew the whistle and the band looked at each other. Where the heck did that whistle come from? Stan looked at the band and said, "What's the matter with you guys? When Woody blew his whistle, the band knew what to do." They just sat there wondering where Stan was going with this.

"You know," Stan told the audience, "I've always been jealous of Woody. He plays all those saxophones and clarinet and even sings. I'm just a piano player. But I have secretly been taking voice lessons out in L.A. from a famous coach named Ezekiel Lippschitts and he thinks I'm ready for my singing debut. You the audience will hear it first!"

At that point the bass player John Worster started playing "Blue Flame," Woody's theme song. The rest of the rhythm section joined in and Stan began to sing "St. James Infirmary." This was all news to the band, but they did a wonderful job of improvising on the chords to "Blue Flame" to fit Stan's song. It was a riot! The audience laughed until they held their sides.

Woody was standing across the stage. The bus was waiting to take the band upstate New York for a concert the next day. Woody did not think it was funny at all and loaded up the band in the midst of Stan's singing debut and left. Stan was really upset that Woody seemed agitated instead of amused. However, he later recorded it almost verbatim at Butler University. You can buy it on the CD "Live at Butler."

In the 1970s and 80s Midge Ellis organized the Clarenceville jazz series in Livonia. She is a SEMJA member and the Director of the Michigan Jazz Festival, which will be held July 16 at Schoolcraft College.

IN THIS ISSUE
1. REMEMBERING KENTON----2. PATTON COLLINS QUINTET
3. BOB & DAVE SHOW----4. BASIE BAND
5. MICHIGAN JAZZ FESTIVAL----6. BIRMINGHAM JAZZ FESTIVAL
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