Four Of A Kind – Ray Starling
This bright-toned swinger was originally written to feature the mellophone section of Stan Kenton’s big band. However, it can easily work with any instrumentation.
- Recording: Stan Kenton - Horns Of Plenty, Vol. 2
- Recorded on: December 8, 1961
- Label: Tantara (TCD1118)
- Concert Key: C
- Style: Swing (medium up)
- Trumpet - Dalton Smith, Marvin Stamm, Norman Baltazar, Bob Rolfe, Bob Behrendt
- Mellophone - Ray Starling, Dwight Carver, Keith LaMotte, Carl Saunders
- Trombone - Bob Fitzpatrick, Bud Parker, Dee Barton
- Bass Trombone - Jim Amlotte, Dave Wheeler
- Alto Sax - Gabe Baltazar
- Tenor Sax - Buddy Arnold, Paul Renzi
- Bari Sax - Allan Beutler, Joel Kaye
- Piano - Stan Kenton
- Bass - Pat Senatore
- Drums - Jerry Lestock McKenzie
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A charming, bright medium-up swinger, originally written in a big band arrangement but fun to play with any instrumentation. The melody is full of “wiggles” of alternating half steps, in both the A sections and the bridge. The changes are very straightforward, with sequential II-V7s going sometimes up, sometimes down but never leaving the C major tonality.
Our lead sheets show the intro and coda from the big band arrangement. They also include a few notable countermelodies and lines that fill in around the melody, though not as many countermelodies as in our lead sheet for Mellophobia due to Four Of A Kind’s busier melody.
Our lead sheets show the intro and coda from the big band arrangement. They also include a few notable countermelodies and lines that fill in around the melody, though not as many countermelodies as in our lead sheet for Mellophobia due to Four Of A Kind’s busier melody.
Both Four Of A Kind and Mellophobia show the influence of Four Brothers, the classic feature for three tenor saxes and one baritone sax written by Jimmy Giuffre for Woody Herman’s big band. Four Of A Kind, with its half-step “wiggles,” is especially reminiscent of Four Brothers as well as Gerry Mulligan’s sequel Five Brothers.
Another recording of Four Of A Kind comes from the same U.S. Air Force Reserve radio transcriptions as Mellophobia. This version, recorded a week after the "Horns Of Plenty, Vol. 2" performance, is opened up for more solos.
Another recording of Four Of A Kind comes from the same U.S. Air Force Reserve radio transcriptions as Mellophobia. This version, recorded a week after the "Horns Of Plenty, Vol. 2" performance, is opened up for more solos.
Ray Starling
January 4, 1933 – May 15, 1982
As both a player and a composer/arranger, Ray Starling is most closely associated with Stan Kenton’s big band, specifically the expanded lineup of the 1960s that featured a section of four mellophones (also called mellophoniums). Read more...