Birthday: June 25, 1928.
Birthplace: Chicago.
Occupation: Composer and conductor.
Current home: Chicago.
Marital status: Single.
Children: I have three daughters and a son, ranging in age from 29 to 48.
Car: A silver 1995 Aurora.
Working on: I’m founder and conductor of the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, and we’ve got a new CD, “Kenton a la Russo: Live at the Jazz Showcase” coming out this month. I’m also chairman of the music department at Columbia College and director of orchestral studies at Scuola Europea d’Orchestra Jazz in Palermo, Italy.
The last good movie I saw: Woody Allen’s “Sweet and Lowdown.”
I stay home to watch: “The Sopranos.”
The book I’ve been reading: Stanley Crouch’s “Don’t the Moon Look Lonesome” (Pantheon Books).
Favorite meal: My own pasta with a real Italian red sauce.
Favorite performers: Duke Ellington, Fritz Kreisler, Peggy Lee and David Byrne.
Prized possession: My Yamaha piano. It’s big, it’s beautiful and it makes me humble because I should play it better.
Personal heroes: Plato, Socrates, Nelson Mandela, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Nobody knows I’m: Shy.
I’m better than anyone else when it comes to: General conversation.
If I could do it over: I’d be properly trained. I often compare myself to Joan of Arc because she led France into battle without any military training.
I’d give anything to meet: J.S. Bach.
If I could change one thing about myself: I’d be a better piano player.
My most irrational act: Leaving Stan Kenton’s band when I was just 25 after four years. I left because I was increasingly uncomfortable with the people in the band. I should have stuck it out.
The three words that best describe me: Amusing, intelligent and awkward.
