The Kenton Band
The Kenton band bus was my home for 3 years. 3 years of one-nighters, just as many as the booking agency could manage.
7 nights a week, 50 weeks a year, if at all possible. Every band member had their "area" which was two seats wide, and
the space directly above and below those seats, for their personal belongings. There were strict rules - don't open the
windows, listen to music with enclosed headphones only, no more than one seat reclined at a time, and the bus toilet was
exclusively for urinating. Violating these rules could get you fired. The only time I violated one of the rules was when
I opened a window - there were three cigars being smoked around me (you could smoke anywhere in those days) and I was about
to lose my lunch. So I opened a window and stuck my nose out. Stan yelled "What about that window?" and I yelled back "What
about those cigars?" It was so unexpected that the cigars went out, and the window got shut.
This series of shots is from '75 or '76, in those polyester cub scout band outfits.
Those outfits look better in black and white, in these pics from a concert in Wakefield, Massachusetts.
This poster is from the gig we played on July 4th, 1976 - the Bicentennial. The night before, we had played the Newport
Jazz Festival in New York City, and many of the band members had been out celebrating. Of course, the celebrating continued
through this combined concert with Buddy Rich and Maynard Ferguson. It's a good thing that there was a poster, because our
memories are not too clear.
The Carnation Gardens at Disneyland featured many great bands for many years. Here's Stan's band with special guest Vido
Musso in the summer of '76. About a decade letter I was playing again with Vido in Palm Springs, including his last
performance - he was a powerful man and a powerful player right to the end. In front of the bandstand you'll see the
backside of a young lady with long blond hair - this is where I met my future wife, Melanie.
Some favorite photos from my time with Stan's band:
- Bob Crane (yeah, the Hogan's Heroes guy) telling stories to the band - he was a percussionist prior to becoming an actor, and sat in with the band that night.
- Dick Shearer and Mike Eagan clowning on the bandstand to the amusement of Steve Wilkerson and Greg Sorcek - also prominently featured are the back of Dan Salmasian's head and Greg Smith's crotch.
- Greg Metcalf, Terry Layne, and Roy Reynolds all focusing in the recording studio.
- Stan and Mel Lewis talking over…?
- For a time, Stan pulled a lot of players out of the unlikely jazz haven of the Pacific Northwest, and here are the first three to join the band - yours truly, Gary Hobbs, and Terry Layne. We were joined by Jeff Uusitalo, Gary Clinton, and Greg Metcalf, and I would be remiss to neglect Dave Barduhn, whose arrangements where the biggest audience favorites during those years.
- After a gig in D.C. the band bus took a swing by the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, and I was lucky enough to grab this picture.
Lisa Hittle and me, trading "Intermission" riffs at a Kenton alumni show in Florida in the mid 80s. Also pictured are
Howard Hedges, Mike Eagan, John Harner, and Jay Sollenberger.
Over the years, Ken Poston and the LA Jazz Society have hosted a number of tributes to Stan.
This program is from one with
which I was involved, that took place in 2003.
This series of shots is from '75 or '76, in those polyester cub scout band outfits.
Those outfits look better in black and white, in these pics from a concert in Wakefield, Massachusetts.
This poster is from the gig we played on July 4th, 1976 - the Bicentennial. The night before, we had played the Newport
Jazz Festival in New York City, and many of the band members had been out celebrating. Of course, the celebrating continued
through this combined concert with Buddy Rich and Maynard Ferguson. It's a good thing that there was a poster, because our
memories are not too clear.
The Carnation Gardens at Disneyland featured many great bands for many years. Here's Stan's band with special guest Vido
Musso in the summer of '76. About a decade letter I was playing again with Vido in Palm Springs, including his last
performance - he was a powerful man and a powerful player right to the end. In front of the bandstand you'll see the
backside of a young lady with long blond hair - this is where I met my future wife, Melanie.
Some favorite photos from my time with Stan's band:
Lisa Hittle and me, trading "Intermission" riffs at a Kenton alumni show in Florida in the mid 80s. Also pictured are
Howard Hedges, Mike Eagan, John Harner, and Jay Sollenberger.
Over the years, Ken Poston and the LA Jazz Society have hosted a number of tributes to Stan.
This program is from one with
which I was involved, that took place in 2003.