Oh, how I wish this show were complete! I think this is my favorite music program yet. Stan Kenton and his orchestra, live at the Palladium in Hollywood for their last show there after what was apparently a long run. Stan mentions that they’re making way for Gene Krupa’s band. In my searching, I couldn’t find a date for either Kenton’s last show or Krupa’s first show at the Palladium, but Christmas is mentioned in the program. He also mentions that it’s Sunday. This is on the reverse of my Christmas 1945 disc. So that narrows it down, but I still don’t know which Sunday of December 1945 this was recorded.
The recording starts mid-song. When it ends, June Christy is introduced and sings “A-sittin’ and a-rockin’.” Next up is “Never Too Late to Pray,” sung by Gene Howard. The final number is a version of Kenton’s theme song, “Artistry in Rhythm.” He describes it, “the melody of our theme song, beat up into a real fast, rather exciting arrangement… we hope it gets that way this evening.” It features Eddie Safranski on bass, Vido Musso on tenor sax, Buddy Childers on trumpet, and Rob Collier on drums.
If you saw my post from Christmas 1945, you might remember that the record is broken, cracked all the way through from edge to center. I’m really happy that I was able to get this side recorded as well as the Christmas side. It took quite a bit of work, including my husband using his specialty tools at his studio to clean up the pops from the crack, but it came out pretty well. The end of the program drops out as Kenton is talking.
