Johnny Richards and Stan Kenton

Johnny Richards arranged several crackerjack albums for Stan Kenton. They include Cuban Fire!, tracks on Back to Balboa, Kenton's West Side Story and Adventures in Time. Even more exceptional are Richards's albums recorded as a leader, including Something Else, Wide Range, Walk Softly/Run Wild and Aqui Se Habla Español. [Photo above of Johnny Richards]

With Kenton, Richards came a long way from his early neo-classical orchestrations in the late 1940s and early 1950s to the singular mid-decade sound that came to be identified with him. His arrangements for Kenton and for his own albums were marked by explosive, surging brass blended with warm and caressing melody lines and standout solos. Pure California. [Photo above, from left, of Johnny Richards, Capitol producer Lee Gillette and Stan Kenton]

Recently, West Coast jazz aficionado and collector Todd Selbert and I had a back and forth by email on Richards. We chatted about his arrangements for Kenton during this transitional period. Todd sent along a list of Richards's early Kenton charts that, taken together, exhibit an interesting evolution.

Johnny Richards died in 1968 at age 56.

These are the ones I could find on YouTube:

Here's Soliloquy in February 1950...

Here's Taboo in August 1952, at 1:53 on the time bar...

Here's Prologue: This Is an Orchestra in September 1952...

Here's Stella by Starlight in January 1953...

Here's Yesterdays in February 1953, at 19:56 on the time bar...

Here's El Congo Valiente, from Cuban Fire!, in May 1956...

Here's Rendezvous at Sunset, from Back to Balboa, in January 1958...

And here's Ann Richards singing All or Nothing at All, in July 1960...