JAZZ REVIEWS : NATIONAL ACADEMY’S 7-PIECE BAND

The National Academy of Jazz, still confined to local events due to a shortage of funding, lent its name Sunday to a seven-piece band presented by UCLA’s Student Committee for the Arts.

After an opening tribute to Chuck Niles of radio station KKGO, which aired part of the program, a familiar pattern was followed: opening number by the full group, a series of solo features and another ensemble piece to close.

Given the limitations inherent in a recital by musicians who had neither worked together before nor even rehearsed, it all came off better than might have been expected. The rhythm section--Mike Melvoin at the piano, Monty Budwig on bass, drummer Sherman Ferguson--provided a solid stimulus throughout.

If the evening yielded one special hero, it was Bill Watrous, a trombonist of rare talent whose “Insensitive” belied its title, and whose sublimation of “How Long Has This Been Going On” was the single most affecting performance. (He’ll lead his own big band Friday and Saturday at Donte’s.)

Red Holloway, the group’s genial leader, offered a buoyant tenor sax number with an “All Blues” opening and a couple of “Blues in the Night” quotes. Ann Patterson, whose eloquent delineation of “Polka Dots and Moonbeams” deservedly drew one of the evening’s best responses, switched from alto sax to soprano when she led the group through an upbeat “Secret Love.” Bobby Bryant, the towering trumpet inferno, calmed down long enough to offer a pleasantly understated version of “I’m Glad There Is You.”

The National Academy of Jazz, Niles announced, is planning an awards show, along more ambitious lines. Sunday’s bash was not much more than an agreeable but surprise-free warm-up.