That charmer Stan Kenton.

If replication is the greatest compliment that can be paid to an artist, then what do you call being asked to record a legend’s unreleased material? That’s exactly what has went down for UWEC’s Jazz Ensemble I, who impressed a record label bigwig so much at their winter concert that he asked them to do an album of Stan Kenton’s unreleased jazz compositions. Kenton is a famed composer and pianist known best for his big band jazz of the 40s and 50s. “We are ecstatic that the jazz ensemble would be honored with an invitation of this magnitude,” Director Robert Baca told the UWEC News Bureau. The ensemble finished recording in early June, and will be part of an internationally distributed CD package honoring Kenton’s 100th birthday. Bill Lichtenauer, of Tantara Productions, said he heard great things about the Eau Claire jazz program and saw they were playing a show in Illinois. “I thought they were very top-drawer, very tight, crisp and well-rehearsed,” he said. “They played some difficult pieces and, much to my surprise, a couple were from the Kenton book.” The project involves several two-CD packages, with the first disc being unreleased material performed by Kenton and the second featuring universities or civic orchestras doing the material. UWEC’s package is slated to be released in August, at which time you can look for it at The Local Store.