Woody, Stan and Count

My introduction to jazz came at the hands of Woody Herman, Stan Kenton and Count Basie. In the space of one winter concert season I attended performances by each of the bands.
What's more I had free tickets to each of the concerts. A local disc jockey would run call-in contests during his afternoon show. The questions were pretty easy but the trick was getting through on the one phone line to his studio. Also, this being the era of rotary dial telephones I literally dialed my fingers to the bone!

I don't know what I expected to hear at the first concert, the Woody Herman band. However, I was blown away by the power of the band and the swing of the soloists. One of the names I recall is drummer Jake Hanna who really propelled the band. The other soloist I remember was saxophonist Sal Nistico, who I would meet some 15 years latyer when he played a local gig.

Next up was Stan Kenton. This was in the mellophonium era when Stan was carrying the extra brass in addition to the standard sixteen piece big band. Once again I was transfixed by the power of the band even though at the time I didn't realize that I was seeing and hearing an unusual group of instruments. The standout soloist was trombonist Dee Barton. A few years later I would see Kenton again and Barton then was playing drums! With his composing and arranging skills Barton must have been an important part of the Kenton machine.

Finally Spring brought the Basie band to our town. While Basie's troops could wail with the best of them, I was taken with the rhythm section and especially Freddie Green on guitar. I remember his big solo on "Little Darlin'".

Over the ensuing years I would trek out to warm my ears with big band jazz. It was all I wanted to hear. Considering that I was then a senior in High School I guess I didn't fit the image of a typical teenager growing up in the sixties. But I had made up my mind that this was what I liked.

In fact, it would be several years before I began to appreciate small group jazz. By the time 1970 rolled around and I started the first version of the My Favorite Things radio show I had developed a broad appreciation of jazz and the extraordinary people who create it. Over 40 years later I'm still in awe.