STAN Kenton may have died in 1979 and had his golden years, depending on whom you speak to, 20 or 30 years before that, but his music can still sound as if the arrangers' ink is still drying on the orchestral scores.
This was the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra's second investigation of Kenton's distinctive oeuvre and here's a sobering thought: the young man who made the first visit to the soloist's mic on Thursday, alto saxophonist Ru Pattison, would not have been long at secondary school when his colleagues played Kenton back in 2004.
Pattison's self-possession and marshalling of ideas on Bill Holman's reimagining of Cherokee made for just one impressive factor in a concert that illustrated both the large-scale sonic ambition and the popular appeal of Kenton's work. The Concerto To End All Concertos, with a lovely piano intro from Steve Hamilton, boldly encompassed the train-like rhythm that seeped into big bands through their journeying from gig to gig, a slow tempo that allowed tenor saxophonist Konrad Wisniewski room to emote superbly and then a bebop pace, with Pattison again shining.
On a more instant gratification point, there was fun and joyfulness in Peanut Vendor, although the depth of sound that the expanded trumpet and trombone sections offered figured there too. At times the horns suggested a church organ's full capabilities, or a calliope, at work, such was their ensemble richness and imaginative deployment, while the solos, though mostly brief, caught the ear for their unlikely nimbleness, in baritone saxophonist Bill Fleming's case, and the softly yearning soulfulness of director Tommy Smith on Yesterdays.
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