Stan Kenton: Lover
Musicians:
Stan Kenton (piano), Buddy Childers (trumpet), Kai Winding (trombone), Milt Bernhart (trombone), Boots Mussulli (alto sax), Vido Musso (tenor sax), Bob Cooper (tenor sax), Shelly Manne (drums),
Ray Wetzel, Chico Alvarez, John Anderson, Ken Hanna (trumpet); Layton, Harry Forbes, Bart Varsalona (trombone); Eddie Meyers (alto sax), Bob Gioga (baritone sax), Eddie Safranski (bass)
.Arranged by Pete Rugolo. Composed by Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
.Recorded: Hollywood, CA, March 31, 1947
Rating: 91/100 (learn more)
After lulling us with an intro fit for a biopic of some doomed Romantic Composer, including stating the melody as a Chopin waltz, Stan Kenton's "Lover" outraces even Gene Krupa's "Lover" of two years previous. Moreover, while Krupa's cup-muted trumpets maintained a modicum of restraint, that word was missing from Kenton's vocabulary. Well before Detroit decided "bigger is better," Kenton laid on extra brass, widened his voicings and (foretelling Spinal Tap's amp that goes to 11) boosted fortissimo from ff to FFFFFFFFFFF. Vido Musso and Kai Winding solo, but this track is all about mass mania—the madness of crowds.
Reviewer: Alan Kurtz
Tags: 1940s jazz · big band · lover
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