Part 1 of Essay
Born December 15, 1911 in Wichita, Kansas, Stanley Newcomb Kenton grew up in Los Angeles, California. Sometime around the age of 8, his mother, Stella, a traditionally-trained musician noticed her son's irrepressible aptitude for the piano and became his first teacher. It wasn't long, however, before she realized he was g ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... compositions: 'Theme For Sunday,' 'Sunset Tower,' 'Concerto To End All Concertos.' Upon graduation from Bell High School he worked during the day as a rehearsal pianist in dance halls and theaters. At night he paid his dues in a succession of after-hours bars, clip joints and five dollar-a-night speakeasies prevalent throughout the depression-era southwest until he was able to assemble his own 14-piece orchestra in June of 1941. A dominant characteristic of this relatively small Kenton Orchestr ....