Stan Kenton Series

Here is a great, free-swingin' Opener, also written for Stan Kenton. Although it was never recorded commercially by the band, it was played a great deal in live performances throughout the country. It...

As recorded by the Stan Kenton Orchestra on Adventures In Standards, this is a medium-swing chart on a great tune. Lennie uses a neat vamp in the trombones to offset the melody in the saxes. The full...

As performed by the Stan Kenton Orchestra, here is one of the hippest charts from the Kenton book. It was a favorite with the band and audiences alik, and it swings like crazy. There is a nice, long t...

This was recorded by the Stan Kenton Orchestra on Back To Balboa, and it is a highly original, exciting chart (latin/swing) on a great standard tune. Johnny Richards wrote for Kenton as well as anyone...

As recorded by the Stan Kenton Orchestra on Adventures In Standards CD, this is a wonderful, swinging chart on a great tune. As usual, Lennie does a great job arranging it, with terrific section work...

There are a few charts from this library which are very playable by any reasonably well developed jazz ensemble. This surely is one of the best! Holman created a beautifully layered piece, based on th...

This is one of Holman's best loved (and most often played) charts. Written for the Showcase album, it is a light, well-paced blues, featuring bass, tenor, trumpet and alto. Holman's well known linear...

Recorded in 1953 on the Kenton Showcase album (This music is available from Mosaic Records in their Russo/Holman CD set.), this is a medium tempo swing chart which was (and still is) very different an...

Bill Holman, well known for his solo features, originally arranged this iconic tenor saxophone feature, 'Out of Nowhere,' for Bill Perkins and the Stan Kenton Orchestra in the mid '50s. Set as an up-t...

This is the original version of the tune recorded in 1946, and also included in the Milestones LP. This was transcribed by Bob Curnow for Gunther Schuller's Smithsonian Jazz Orchestra concerts. Tenor...

This is one of those superb Holman charts written for Stan Kenton in the early '50's that just swings like crazy. It starts off very soft and easy, with clever linear writing. It then roars into an al...

Mulligan's writing for the Kenton Band was fairly minimal in quantity but extraordinary in quality. He had a profound effect on the band and the writers to follow him. This composition was recorded in...

This may be the all-time greatest jazz arrangement of a standard tune. Also from the Contemporary Concepts LP (1955). This great standard is turned into a marvelous vehicle for solo statements from al...

This may be the all-time greatest jazz arrangement of a standard tune. Recorded on the Contemporary Concepts LP, this great standard is turned into a marvelous vehicle for solo statements from alto, t...

Another terrific chart from Kenton's Contemporary Concepts LP. Features trombone throughout this fast-paced, Cool Bop chart in the unmistakable style of the late, great Gerry Mulligan. Use this with 3...

The lush trombone section sound of the Kenton Orchestra on a gorgeous ballad. Rescored to be played without the mellophoniums. A wonderful concert or dance book addition. Recorded on the Romantic Appr...

There were a few Holman charts that were written for the Stan Kenton Orchestra which had disappeared over the years, seemingly lost forever. This was one of them. However, Sierra Music is proud to hav...

When Lennie arranged for the Stan Kenton Orchestra, he was able to capture the Kenton sound without a lot of high-range problems or difficult concerns for the players. Solo space for trombone. Recorde...

When Lennie arranged for the Stan Kenton Orchestra, he created the most beautiful big band dance book ever written. Begins with a lush, warm trombone soli. Solo space for alto sax. Recorded on the Sop...

Many think that Standards in Silhouette was the most beautiful ballad album (available on CD from Sierra Music) ever recorded by the Kenton Band. This chart is the fourth one (along with Ill Wind, The...

Bill Mathieu's arrangements, done for the Stan Kenton Orchestra, were some of the most beautiful pieces ever recorded by that band. This is a splendid rendition of a great standard. It contains all of...

requires Flute and Tuba

The Stan Kenton Orchestra was always ahead of its time! This chart was based on the music of Blood Sweat and Tears. It is a trombone feature throughout and is a wild and very exciting rock/fusion char...

The Stan Kenton Orchestra was always ahead of its time! This chart was recorded on the Stan Kenton Plays Chicago CD (available from Sierra Music). It was one of two originals on the album. Stan asked...

There have been many requests for a stand alone version of Kenton's theme song. This is the short version which was played by Stan's band in the later years. 5-5-5-2