Born December 15, 1911 in Wichita, Kansas, Stanley Newcomb Kenton grew up in Los Angeles, California. Sometime around the age of 8, his mother, Stella, a traditionally-trained musician noticed her son's irrepressible aptitude for the piano and became his first teacher. It wasn't long, however, before she realized he was graced with more than a natural gift for the keyboard and arranged for him to take lessons on the trumpet and alto saxophone from a local schoolbandmaster, who quickly noticed his ambitious, lanky prodigy had a talent to be re ....