Kenton Live from the Las Vegas Tropicana

AMG Review of Kenton Live from the Las Vegas Tropicana

Scott Yanow
All Music Guide

The 1959 Stan Kenton Orchestra, which boasted such soloists as trumpeter Jack Sheldon, altoist Lennie Niehaus, Richie Kamuca and Bill Trujillo on tenors and trombonist Ken Larsen, is heard in spirited form on this live LP. Performing arrangements mostly by Gene Roland along with one apiece by Johnny Richards, Niehaus and Kenton, the band plays some surprising material (such as "Tuxedo Junction" and "Street Scene") but mostly comes up with creative, fresh and concise statements. This is admittedly not one of the classic Stan Kenton recordings but is generally superior to his studio recordings of the period.