Dee Barton: Clint Eastwood, Stan Kenton and Everywhere in Between

One of the fascinating things about life is variety, after all it is the spice of life.  I also like when that variety intermingles seamlessly with the different interests I have.

One such interest is Clint Eastwood, Only a few movies of his I don't like, his whole persona intrigues me, not to mention how he developed into a fine Oscar caliber actor and a Director on par with the likes of Scorsese and Coppola.

Another interest is jazz, with modern progressive big band being one of my particular focuses. I dig Ellington, and Gil Evans quite a bit, but Stan Kenton has always struck a chord with me. He's not universally loved, or even respected.

I have been listening to jazz since around 1996/1997, and Kenton was one of the bands my dad did not like, he was a swing guy, dixieland and such, didn't have taste for the progressive sounds at all.  It trully didn't mean a thing if it didn't have that swing to him.

Stan Kenton-Left, Dee Barton-Right.

I was fortunate, 2 CD's my dad passed off on me were,  ...Plays the Jazz Compositions of Dee Barton. and Adventures in Jazz, Both fantastic 60's albums from Kenton, both albums do swing some, they find a happy median I think.

OK how does Clint Eastwood figure into this? Well, one of my favorite Eastwood films is Play Misty for Me (1971), his directorial debut, and a chilling ahead-of-its-time thriller, long before Glenn Close was cooking rabbits on stove tops, Jessica Walter was going berserk and plunging long blade scissors into unsuspecting  detectives and housekeepers.

I had long been a fan of the film, it all clicked when the credits rolled, music composed by Dee Barton. I was thinking that's the guy who composed that "Waltz of the Prophets" Track I liked so much, and of course the Compositions of Dee Barton.

I then found out that Barton did the score for Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, and High Plains Drifter for Clint as well. Here are some cool photos of Dee, one with Clint I believe from the late 70's.

You won't find a whole lot of jazz from Dee beyond The Kenton Band, and some of the jazzier scores for Eastwood, but you won't find much jazz in High Plains Drifter that's for sure.

Dee Barton was born during the month of Sept in the year 1937, and left this earth in December 2001. Dee not only was an underrated film score composer and jazz orchestra arranger, he was also an accomplished trombonist and Drummer for the Kenton band.

 From what I can gather, Dee spent time with Kenton from 1961 to 1970, with a live show from Redlands University being the final release Dee appeared on with Kenton.

 In any event Dee should go down with all the other fine Kenton arrangers, like Bill Holman, Bill Russo, and Johnny Richards. Kenton's 1960's years are quite good, with that balance between progressive jazz and swing.

 I think Kenton's 60's and 70's albums are all worth acquiring. Kenton allowed much more of a counter culture element into the music, playing many standards of the day, and even allowing some funk elements to drift into the style.

If you get a chance to check out that Play Misty For Me DVD do it, there is a lot of nice jazz stuff mixed throughout the film, even a lengthy segment at the Monterrey Jazz Festival, with Cannonball Adderley's early 70's group.