Average Rating: (5 out of 5 stars)
Another great Kenton effort.
See the review below from "a reviewer from Seattle." I don't see anything there I disagree with and he already said it all.
Submitted by SeaFrog (Eugene, Oregon, USA)
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Standards Silhouetted in Artistry
Jazz artists, great or otherwise, at some point declare their debt to the “standards.” Virtually every jazz musician or arranger cuts their musical teeth on them, and more than a few revisit them periodically throughout their careers. Kenton was both a great musician and a talented arranger, and in his three albums devoted to the standards (Portraits, Sketches and Silhouette), he returns to them to pay the compliment of applying what he has learned as a jazz innovator. Of the three albums, this one is my favorite. What constitutes a standard is, of course, a matter for debate - more traditional examples are to be found on the other two recordings - and Kenton and his band come up with a few surprises on this record. I had more or less accepted the lead-off cut, “Willow Weep for Me,” as a perennial favorite (is that a good definition of a standard?), but was pleasantly surprised at the pleasure I got from listening to this arrangement by Bill Mathieu. Miles Davis had recorded “The Meaning of the Blues” a couple of years before this version, which owes something to the Gil Evans arrangement on “Miles Ahead,” but it was far from a standard at the time. Still, in the light of many interpretations since, this one stands along with the Davis/Evans rendition as definitive, in my opinion.
Other stand-outs on this recording are “I Get Along Without You Very Well” (not exactly the first title that springs to mind when you think of classic Hoagy Carmichael), and a very fine arrangement of “When Sunny Gets Blue,” an indisputable standard, in my book. It should be pointed out also that another of Kenton’s great gifts, that of seeking out the finest of the many talented sidemen available at the time to form his bands, is in evidence on this recording. The “Standards” recordings departed from the big band line ups most associated with Kenton. Not exactly combos either, in the intimate, smokey lounge sense, they are best described as “small” bands. Any attempt to single out performances from this recording result in copying the entire credits from the liner notes, though none of the artists were or are household names. However, the solos on trumpet by Rolf Ericson, and on tenor sax by Bill Trujillo, both of whom went on to have long and successful careers, are to be appreciated. Another trumpet player of note, though with no credited solos, is Bill Chase, who gained some recognition for his contribution to the jazz-rock movement in the late 60's and early 70's, overshadowed somewhat by Blood, Sweat and Tears, and the early Chicago. For Kenton, this album marks one of many examples of the outstanding contributions he made in his tireless pursuit of artistry and innovation in jazz.
Submitted by a reviewer (Seattle, WA)
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