JAZZ REVIEW : Nat Cole’s Still King in Hendricks’ ‘Salute’

In town for a few concerts, including one tonight at the Ambassador in Pasadena, Jon Hendricks premiered his new show, “Salute to Nat King Cole,” Thursday at Pepperdine University’s Smothers Theater in Malibu.

The new premise enables Hendricks, alternating between solo and group vocals, to touch a nerve in the audience through songs that are--to quote an old Cole hit--unforgettable.

It is strange to reflect that Jon’s daughter, Aria Hendricks, the youngest member of the present vocal quartet, was not born when Lambert, Hendricks & Ross burst on the jazz vocal scene, launching the vocalese generation. At 24, though, she is three years older than Danilo Perez, the group’s boppish pianist from Panama.

“Straighten Up and Fly Right” and “Hit That Jive Jack” were lightweight novelty songs, but Hendricks & Co. retained the same cheerful spirit Nat Cole brought to them. “Ballerina,” equipped with a few extra lyrics, came off even better, and the ballads, filtered through Hendricks’ pleasantly grainy sound, were best of all. “Blame It on My Youth” was a charming duo vocal with Hendricks’ wife Judith singing what was, on the record, a trombone obbligato by Juan Tizol.

Kevin Burke and Aria Hendricks were limited mostly to ensemble vocals, though the latter, in her brief solo outings, revealed a rich, mellow sound that should be used more.

Hendricks reminisced about musicians Cole supposedly admired; this enabled him to include some of the group’s familiar Basie, Ellington and even Monk material. However, the use of Benny Goodman’s “Sing Sing Sing” stretched relevance a little too far.

When he was not jumping on hot Coles, Hendricks might be doing anything from a bass imitation to a flute solo (by holding up a drumstick and whistling). “Jumpin’ at the Woodside,” which he recorded 30 years ago with Annie Ross, Dave Lambert and Count Basie’s band, still makes for a crowd-pleasing finale, and Judith Hendricks hits the high notes with impressive accuracy.

The backup group, with Andy McCloud on bass and Clifford Barbero on drums, acquitted itself well enough; Perez did not try any duplications of Nat Cole’s inimitable jazz piano.