O.C. JAZZ REVIEW : An Emotional Tribute to Kenton Legacy : The four-day ‘Back to Balboa’ celebration in Newport Beach marks the 50th anniversary of the debut of his orchestra.

“Back to Balboa,” the four-day pilgrimage to Kenton Mecca, ended Sunday evening on a triumphal note. This was more than a tribute to the memory of Stan Kenton; it was proof of his vital legacy.

Ironically, the celebration at the Hyatt Newporter hotel marking the 50th anniversary of his orchestra’s debut in nearby Balboa was also a reminder that there never was a Stan Kenton style.

Whereas others, like Ellington, Toshiko Akiyoshi and Gerald Wilson, derived a sound and persona directly from their own pens, Kenton, who did very little composing except in the early years, hired more arrangers than most orchestras have musicians, underwent more changes of direction and projected more images than most bands have lives. Thus the band’s personality often changed from tune to tune.

The tribute’s producer, Ken Poston, wisely sidestepped this problem by giving many of the writers their own sets, achieving a consistency that the Kenton bands sometimes lacked.

It is easy to recall that some of this music in its day seemed turgid, pretentious or trivial; easy to remember Kenton’s sometimes inflammatory social statements.

True; but also true, and more relevant, we have Kenton to thank for bringing us composers Pete Rugolo, Bill Holman, Marty Paich, Manny Albam, Bill Russo; trumpeters Maynard Ferguson, Buddy Childers, the Candoli Brothers; trombonists Frank Rosolino, Eddie Burt and Dick Nash; saxophonists Bud Shank, Bob Cooper, Lee Konitz, Bill Perkins, Art Pepper, Jack Nimitz; drummers Shelly Manne, Mel Lewis, Stan Levey; guitarist Laurindo Almeida.

The list is endless, and most of the active survivors were here, busy proving that they and the charts have thrived like old wine. Marc Cantor’s old Kenton band shorts and Shelly Manne’s 1948 home movies were filmed frosting on the live cake.

It was a heroic weekend, and if one has to pick out particular heroes they would be Holman, Rugolo and Shank. Each was presented in several settings (one was the 22-piece alumni band that drew 2,500 to the Saturday night concert) and served on panels that were consistently witty and informative.

Rugolo was seen leading a 13-voice choir of students from Cal State Long Beach, singing his arrangements of “Night Sound” and “Eager Beaver.” Rugolo’s skill was presented even more joyfully when, on Saturday evening, he took the alumni band through some of the most durable works: “Intermission Riff,” “Machito,” “Concerto to End All Concertos,” and his famous updating of “The Peanut Vendor.”

Anita O’Day, heard during the Rugolo segment, looked and sounded too good by far for any 71-year-old woman who has lived such a trauma-marked life.

Bill Holman, a product of a later era (the 1950s), symbolized the Kenton band that truly swung, thanks in large measure to Holman’s arrangements of standards (“Stompin’ at the Savoy,” “Stella by Starlight”) and originals (“In Lighter Vein,” venturing Lee Konitz on alto sax).

While most Kenton soloists have sustained their creative level, alto saxophonist Shank has extended and transcended his. During a lunch-hour quartet date with a perfect rhythm team (Mike Wofford, Sherman Ferguson, Bob Magnusson), he reached a breathtaking peak.

A daytime surprise was the completely efficient reading, by a student ensemble including 14 strings, of “Nostalgico,” composed and conducted by Manny Albam. A complex, well structured work, it was written in 1979 in the best post-Neophonic spirit; Kenton would have been delighted.

The most provocative of all Kenton’s writers was Bob Graettinger, who died young in 1957. He was a Bartok student whose “City of Glass,” controversial in 1948, still sounds pompous and heavy-handed, overwrought in the most pretentious of Kenton’s multiple images. But some of Graettinger’s works played ingenious tricks with old tunes, of which “Autumn in New York” came off best. The manic-depressive treatment of “April in Paris” led one fan to shout: “No more times!”

The festival’s daytime ambience was ideal. Concerts at the Hyatt Newporter’s amphitheater brought crowds, even at 11 a.m., to sit in the sun absorbing the sounds of Buck Florence’s Orchestra, interrelating “Artistry in Rhythm” into his arrangement of “All the Things You Are.”

The lunchtime jams found fans ranged around the big pool area and thrilled by various all-star quartets. The evening affairs, in a vast parking lot, were less than comfortable as the weather turned cool, but the music offered its own compensatory warmth.

Ferguson, in addition to a guest shot with the alumni, brought in his own Big Bop Nouveau Band for his Sunday matinee--a bit more bop than nouveau, but rich in solo talent, such as French pianist Christian Jacob and the awesome Mike Fahn, who has single-handedly brought the valve trombone into the 1990s.

The final concert Sunday evening, covering the bands from 1956 until the end, came close to matching Saturday’s excitement. Chris Connor, her jazz contralto enriched and deepened with the years, dedicated “All About Ronnie” to her predecessor, the late June Christy. William Russo’s lively and infectious “23 Degrees North 82 Degrees West” was the highlight of a dazzling chiaroscuro set. Lennie Niehaus conducted his ambitious “Atonal Adventure,” with five French horns augmenting the brass section. Marty Paich offered a powerfully kaleidoscopic arrangement of “My Old Flame.”

The balance sheet showed pluses far outnumbering minuses. This emotionally charged and historically unique event, organized by KLON with the Kenton estate, reflected credit on everyone: producer Poston, the participating musicians who made so much out of not too much rehearsal time, and finally, of course, to Stanley Kenton, whose presence hung almost palpably over this splendid celebration of a memorable career.