A Friendly Session, Vol. 2

By the time these songs were recorded, 23-year-old June Christy had an interesting Curriculum Vitae - in brief, six years of obscurity and four years of stardom. After several chilly seasons in Chicago, singing (sometimes) and learning how to starve gracefully, her big break came in 1945 when she landed a job with the Stan Kenton Orchestra just as Kenton was starting to ride the wave that was to sweep him, and those associated with him, to world-wide fame. June's early Kenton days were magical. "I was floating on clouds of just great joy. I was so thrilled to be with the band because that had been my ambition ever since I can remember. I was in Seventh Heaven." June's own excitement was matched by an immediate public enthusiasm for her singing, which meant hit records, a string of prestigious awards from Metronome and Down Beat magazines, eating regularly and, most importantly, a tremendous learning process. Kenton quickly recognised June's star quality and increasingly featured her singing but, she recalled, "He never told me how to sing; he demanded things from me that I never thought I would be able to do. He always picked music that would stretch my talent."