Stan Kenton › Similar Artists

Woody Herman - 100% match to Stan Kenton

Woodrow Charles Herman, 16 May 1913, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, d. 29 October 1987, Los Angeles, California, USA. A child prodigy, Herman sang and tap-danced in local clubs before touring as a singer in vaudeville. To improve his act he took up the saxophone and later the clarinet, all by the age of 12. By his mid-teens he was sufficiently accomplished to play in a band, and Read more

Les Brown - 83% match to Stan Kenton

Lester Raymond Brown, 14 March 1912, Reinerton, Pennsylvania, USA, d. 4 January 2001, Los Angeles, California, USA. By 1932, when he entered Duke University at Durham, North Carolina, Brown had already attended Ithaca College and the New York Military Academy and had studied harmony, arranging and composing, as well as becoming proficient on soprano saxophone, clarinet and b Read more

Maynard Ferguson - 74% match to Stan Kenton

4 May 1928, Verdun, Quebec, Canada, d. 23 August 2006, Ventura, Califonia, USA. Already a band leader in his native land by his early teenage years, trumpeter Ferguson played in the bands of Boyd Raeburn, Jimmy Dorsey and Charlie Barnet in the 40s. His breakthrough into public consciousness came in 1950 when he joined Stan Kenton, electrifying audiences with his high-note pl Read more

Harry James - 65% match to Stan Kenton

15 March 1916, Albany, Georgia, USA, d. 5 July 1983, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Harry James’ father played trumpet in the band of a touring circus, and at first Harry played the drums, but then he, too, took up the trumpet and at the age of nine was also playing in the circus band. He showed such enormous promise that his father had soon taught him everything he knew. Harr Read more

Jimmy Dorsey - 64% match to Stan Kenton

29 February 1904, Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, USA, d. 12 June 1957, New York City, New York, USA. Musically active as a small child under the tutelage of his father, who was a coal miner turned music teacher, Dorsey switched from brass to reed instruments while still in his early teens. Concentrating on clarinet and alto saxophone, he played in various bands, mostly with his b Read more

Mary Lou Williams - 60% match to Stan Kenton

Mary Elfrieda Scruggs, 8 May 1910, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, d. 28 May 1981, Durham, North Carolina, USA. A child prodigy, Williams played in public at the age of six and by the time she reached her teenage years was already a seasoned professional piano player. At the age of 16 she married saxophonist John Williams, playing in his band throughout the Midwest. When her husband Read more

Billy May - 50% match to Stan Kenton

Edward William May, 10 November 1916, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, d. 22 January 2004, San Juan Capistrano, California, USA. Although May is best known to international audiences for his arranging and conducting work with Frank Sinatra in the late 50s, he had already been a professional musician for nearly 20 years prior to his first session with Hoboken’s favourite s Read more

Bunny Berigan - 46% match to Stan Kenton

Rowland Bernart Berigan, 2 November 1908, Hilbert, Calumet, Wisconsin, USA, d. 2 June 1942, New York City, New York, USA. One of the outstanding trumpeters of the swing era, Berigan was heavily influenced by Louis Armstrong and at his best played with much of his idol’s attack and zest. In the early 30s he worked with numerous bands, including those of Paul Whiteman, Fr Read more

Gene Krupa - 44% match to Stan Kenton

15 January 1909, Chicago, Illinois, USA, d. 16 October 1973, New York City, New York, USA. Krupa began playing drums as a child and after his mother failed to persuade him to become a priest, most of his large family actively encouraged his career in music. He studied formally, his most important teacher being Roy C. Knapp. However, growing up in Chicago in the 20s meant tha Read more

Larry Clinton - 44% match to Stan Kenton

Ray Anthony - 43% match to Stan Kenton

Raymond Antonini, 20 January 1922, Bentleyville, Pennsylvania, USA. After playing in local bands in Cleveland, Anthony spent brief spells in the trumpet sections of the Al Donahue, Glenn Miller and Jimmy Dorsey orchestras. Following a four-year period in the US Navy, where he led a services orchestra, Anthony formed his own band in 1946 and signed with Capitol Records. The b Read more

Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band - 42% match to Stan Kenton

Wichita, Kansas, USA. A gifted pianist and prolific composer, Goodwin is an in-demand session musician in Southern California. In addition to piano, he also plays tenor and soprano saxophones. To many fans, especially outside the USA, he is known chiefly through his leadership of the Big Phat Band. This is a Los Angeles-based rehearsal band, formed in 2000, the repertoire of Read more

Red Norvo - 42% match to Stan Kenton

Kenneth Norville, 31 March 1908, Beardstown, Illinois, USA, d. 5 April 1999, Santa Monica, California, USA. After playing in a marimba band, Norvo was hired by Paul Whiteman in the late 20s. With this band he played xylophone and was called upon largely to deliver novelty effects. While with Whiteman he met and married one of the band’s singers, Mildred Bailey; in 1933 Read more

Buddy Rich - 41% match to Stan Kenton

Erskine Hawkins - 41% match to Stan Kenton