[1] The band reformed in 1960 with a new look and new sound, West Side Story was one of the first 'mellophonium' albums, featuring the newly-developed trumpet/French horn hybrid instrument, to be part of an upsurge in Kenton's popularity.

Kenton made concessions to this though these were not his favorites records to make; one very happy outcome of these practical commercial choices was the West Side Story LP.

The Mirisch Company's film adaptation of West Side Story starring Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer was scheduled for release in September 1961.

[4] Both Kenton and Capitol producer Lee Gillette took advantage of the film coming out and jumped on the opportunity to use Bernstein's award-winning music to be a fitting vehicle for the large scale sound of the new "Mellophonium Band."

[4] There were a great many successes attributed to the Kenton's West Side Story none of which is more interesting than the visit by Mirisch representatives to the Capitol Tower in Hollywood, California.

[1] After numerous aborted recording sessions and a long road of finding appropriate repertoire, Kenton now was on the cusp of his most commercially successful album release.

He turns Gee, Officer Krupke into a big band chart more akin to something from the Count Basie Orchestra; closer to an orchestration by Neal Hefti or Billy Byers.

and Kenton's later LP Adventures in Time can be heard in Cool so to bolster what Richards perceived as repetitive melodies and chords structures from the original.

It is understandable why the general public (vs a hard core jazz audience) was willing to readily accept Kenton's West Side Story propelling it to such high ratings with Billboard during 1961 and 1962.

"Arranger Johnny Richards is responsible for the sometimes wild, sometimes mournful, but always interesting reading by the Kenton band of the "West Side Story" score.

The excellence of the LP as a whole, effective use of stereo positioning, and release timed with showing of the "West Side" motion picture all should aid in sales of the album."

Review on 1999 CD reissue "When the producers of the film West Side Story heard a sampling of what the Stan Kenton Orchestra had done to their score, they were disappointed that they had not thought to ask the band to play on the soundtrack.

Johnny Richards's arrangements of ten of the famous play's melodies are alternately dramatic and tender with plenty of the passion displayed by the characters in the story.

Soloists include altoist Gabe Baltazar, veteran tenor Sam Donahue and trumpeter Conte Candoli, but it is the raging ensembles that are most memorable about the classic recording.