| 7.5 on the Richter Scale | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1973 | |||
| Recorded | August 17–18, 1973 | |||
| Studio | Studio 4, Wally Heider Recording, Hollywood, California | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 33:43 | |||
| Label | Creative World, GNP Crescendo | |||
| Producer | Bob Curnow | |||
| Stan Kenton Orchestra chronology | ||||
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7.5 on the Richter Scale is an album by American jazz musician Stan Kenton and his Orchestra that was released in 1973. Recording sessions for the album took place during August 1973 in Hollywood, California. [1]
Until 7.5 on the Richter Scale the band had primarily made swing recordings with progressive leanings. The 1969 Capitol release of Stan Kenton: The Music of Hair [1] was the only other time since 1943 that Kenton moved away from his style. He had no involvement in the Hair album except for his name appearing on the jacket cover. Ralph Carmichael and Lennie Niehaus were in charge. Producer Lee Gillette at Capitol was trying to take advantage of the popularity of the musical. [1] Due to lack of promotion, the album was a commercial failure, and this was Kenton's last album for Capitol. [1]
In 1970 Kenton moved to his label, Creative World Records, when the music industry was changing. He turned to arrangers Hank Levy and Bob Curnow to write material that appealed to a younger audience. [1] The first albums released by Creative World were concerts by Kenton. He controlled the content, but he lacked the resources to engineer and produce what Capitol had paid for in the past. He gambled that he could rely on direct mail to jazz fans to sell albums. [2] During 1973 Kenton wanted to change the band drastically. [3] He told Gene Roland to come up with a rock-oriented album that would retain the Kenton sound. By June 1973 Curnow had become artists and repertoire manager overseeing Creative World, and he produced the album. [1] [4] Much of the music Roland produced fell short of his previous work. [3] Other writers were called for help.
"We (did) 7.5 On the Richter Scale with some pretty wild things on there, including my chart of Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die". [5]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Live and Let Die" | Paul McCartney | 3:45 |
| 2. | "Body and Soul" | Johnny Green | 4:45 |
| 3. | "Down and Dirty" | Hank Levy | 5:35 |
| 4. | "Country Cousin" | Gene Roland | 3:06 |
| 5. | "2002-Zarathustrevisited" | Richard Strauss | 6:06 |
| 6. | "It's Not Easy Bein' Green" | Joe Raposo | 3:41 |
| 7. | "Love Theme from The Godfather" | Nino Rota | 3:13 |
| 8. | "Blue Gene" | Gene Roland | 3:47 |
Stanley Newcomb Kenton was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though Kenton had several pop hits from the early 1940s into the 1960s, his music was always forward-looking. Kenton was also a pioneer in the field of jazz education, creating the Stan Kenton Jazz Camp in 1959 at Indiana University.
Viva Kenton! is an album by Stan Kenton, released in 1959 by Capitol Records, and later on Kenton's own Creative World label.
Richard Bruce Shearer was an American jazz trombonist.
Gene M. Roland was an American jazz composer and musician. He played many instruments during his career, but was most significant as an arranger/composer and for his association with Stan Kenton. Roland was the only arranger to write for Kenton, in all four decades of the band's existence.
Cuban Fire! is an album by Stan Kenton and his orchestra released in 1956 by Capitol Records. This was Stan Kenton's big band's first full-length recording of Afro-Cuban-styled music. The LP charted for four weeks in Billboard starting on September 15, 1956, peaking at #17. The concept of the original 1956 recording centers on the Cuban Fire! suite Kenton had commissioned from composer Johnny Richards. The 1991 CD re-issue is augmented with one extra track from the 1956 sessions and five cuts recorded four years later by the first of Kenton's mellophonium orchestras.
Standards in Silhouette is an album recorded in September 1959 by Stan Kenton and his orchestra. The entire set of arrangements for the LP were written by Bill Mathieu. This recording stands alone in approach and style; Kenton himself only plays on "Django" and every standard is done at a slow, ballad tempo with very sparse, effusive writing.
City of Glass, an album originally issued as a 10" LP by Stan Kenton, consists entirely of the music of Bob Graettinger. The original album has been reconstituted in different LP re-issues, and the entire set of Kenton/Graettinger Capitol Records sessions is on the digital CD City of Glass.
Robert Harry "Bob" Curnow is an American musician who served as a trombonist, staff arranger and producer for the Stan Kenton Orchestra during the 1960s and 1970s. As a composer and arranger he has become well known for large ensemble jazz music set to contemporary fusion and rock music of groups such as Chicago, Blood, Sweat and Tears, and the Yellowjackets. Most notably he arranged the music for and produced the award-winning and critically acclaimed CD, Bob Curnow's L.A. Big Band Plays The Music of Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays. His compositions and arrangements are heavily influenced by earlier writers for the Stan Kenton Orchestra such as Pete Rugolo, Bill Russo, Johnny Richards and Bill Holman. Curnow is currently owner and President of Sierra Music Publications, Inc., he is also prominent in the instrumental music and jazz education fields.
Stan Kenton Plays Chicago is a studio album by American jazz musician Stan Kenton and his orchestra, released on August 17, 1974, by Creative World Records. Recording sessions for the album took place at Universal Recording Corp. in Chicago on June 4, 5, 6, 1974. The sessions are entirely based on the music of modern rock n' roll groups, in contrast to Kenton's earlier work which primarily featured swing with some progressive jazz leanings.
Adventures in Jazz is an album by the Stan Kenton Orchestra, recorded in late 1961 but not released until about a year later in November 1962. The album won a Grammy Award in the category for Best Jazz Performance – Large Group (Instrumental) category in 1963. This would be Kenton's second Grammy honor in as many years with the first being Kenton's West Side Story winning the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album in 1962. Adventures In Jazz was also nominated for Best Engineered recording for the 1963 Grammys. The 1999 CD re-issue of Adventures In Jazz is augmented with two alternate takes from the original recording sessions and one track from Kenton's release Sophisticated Approach.
Kenton's West Side Story is an album by the Stan Kenton Orchestra recorded in 1961 and released by Capitol Records. It won the Grammy Award in 1962 for Best Jazz Performance – Large Group (Instrumental). The album was recorded in 1961 and released quickly to take advantage of the movie premiere of the musical West Side Story. Kenton won his first Grammy Award and he won again the next year in the same category with Adventures in Jazz. Kenton's West Side Story peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard magazine album chart.
Stan Kenton Presents Gabe Baltazar is an album by Gabe Baltazar. It was the last recording by Stan Kenton's Creative World Records label prior to Kenton's death on August 25, 1979. It was also the last of the "Stan Kenton presents..." series of albums ; this recording presents the talent of the alto saxophonist and former Kenton band member Gabe Baltazar. Though never reissued on CD the recording is critically acclaimed and does a good job highlighting the jazz talents of a legendary jazz artist (Baltazar) at the peak of his playing career. He is backed up by a 17 piece big band on most cuts, a string section is added to one track.
Kenton Live from the Las Vegas Tropicana is a live album by bandleader and pianist Stan Kenton featuring a concert recorded at the Blue Room of the Tropicana Hotel in 1958 and released on the Capitol label.
Adventures in Blues is an album by the Stan Kenton Orchestra featuring compositions by Gene Roland recorded in late 1961 and released by Capitol Records in 1963.
The Jazz Compositions of Dee Barton is an album by bandleader Stan Kenton recorded in 1967 by Capitol Records.
Live at Redlands University is a double live album by American jazz musician Stan Kenton and his orchestra, released in late 1970 by Creative World Records. It was the initial release on Kenton's newly formed record company after he broke his relationship with Capitol Records. Recording for the album took place in Southern California at Redlands University in August of 1970.
Journey Into Capricorn is the last studio album by American jazz musician Stan Kenton and his orchestra, released in late 1976, by Creative World Records. Recording sessions for the album took place in Hollywood, California on August 16–18, 1976. The initial release of the album titled both the album and the individual tune Journey To Capricorn. The later release reworked the cover art and corrected both titles to JOURNEY INTO CAPRICORN.
Kenton '76 is one of the last two studio albums by American jazz musician Stan Kenton and his orchestra, released in 1976, by Creative World Records. Recording sessions for the album took place in Chicago on December 3–5, 1975. The album was recorded after the longest hiatus the band would have from the studio due to financial difficulties and Kenton's growing health problems.
Fire, Fury, and Fun is a studio album by American jazz musician Stan Kenton and his orchestra, released on Creative World Records. Recording sessions for the album took place in Chicago on September 26/27, 1974 at Universal Recording.
National Anthems Of The World is the first studio album by American jazz musician Stan Kenton and his orchestra under the Creative World label, released late 1972. Recording sessions for the album took place at Western Recorders, August 25, 28, 29, 30 & 31, 1972 in Hollywood, California.