Excellent overview of the early Kenton orchestra
Maxwell Wiley | New York, New York | 03/22/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is a nice summary of the Kenton orchestra's early sounds. The disc contains 23 cuts in glorious mono from the band's first heyday, 1943 through 1947. The liner notes are written by Peter Dempsey, who, according to his notes, contributed the original 78s from which these cuts are re-mastered. This bit of information surprised me, as the sound is extremely clean throughout. If you own the 4-disc "Retrospective" on Capitol, you'll find some duplication here, but go ahead and buy this disc anyway. It contains a few that the "Retrospective" had to leave out. Of these, my favorites are: "Lover," "Painted Rhythm," and June Christy's "Just A-Sittin And A-Rockin." Speaking of June Christy, I would like to have heard "Soothe Me," but hey you can't have everything. Hats off to the English guys who put together this great disc."