STAN KENTON
A LITTLE MINOR BOOZE
I think it was James Baker who brought up the name of Willie Maiden in connection with the Kenton Band. I remember when I first saw him on the band I thought I had had too many of Them Funny Cigarettes. Maiden was well known as being a writer and tenor player on the Maynard Ferguson orchestra and here I saw him playing baritone.
Minor Booze was one of his most popular and best known arrangements for the Kenton band. A friend of mine on the band often told me how on long bus trips Maiden would put a blanket over his head, turn on a flashlight and write charts. He was also well known for not liking odd tempos. This was difficult because it was during his time on the band that Hank Levy of Don Ellis fame was doing much of Stan’t arranging, his favorite tempo was 7/4. Maiden would re write all his parts in 4. I never saw any of these rewrites and I would think it would have been harder to play then the original 7 but that was Maiden.
Stan Kenton, Mike Vax, Dennis Noday, Jay Saunders, Ray Brown, Joe Marcinkiewicz, Dick Shearer, Mike Jamieson, Fred Carter, Mike Wallace, Phil Herring, Quin Davis, Richard Torres, Kim Frizell, Willie Maiden, Chuck Carter, Ramon Lopez, John Worster, John Von Ohlen
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