Jazz Reviews : Gillespie in Greater Command Than Ever

Veteran Dizzy Gillespie watchers have long since learned what to expect, and what not to expect, in any of his concerts: plenty of patter from the paterfamilias of bop, but enough incomparable trumpet creativity to make it all worthwhile.

True, at El Camino College on Saturday, he still “introduced” the men in his quintet (to one another --a tired gag that no longer draws much of a laugh). Granted he indulged in a solo on the cowbell, scatted around, griped excessively about a microphone with which there really wasn’t much wrong. Sure, he pokes silly fun at his own use of such words as vicissitude and metaphysical .

Yet these interruptions, part of a time-honored routine, do not negate the fact that this fire-breather-turned-wisecracker remains a national treasure. Today, 15 pounds lighter than when he brought this same group to Catalina’s last April, he seems to have better breath control and even greater command of the horn.

Opening with the Toccata movement from Lalo Schifrin’s “Gillespiana” suite (unannounced), he concentrated mainly on his sempiternal repertoire: his own “Manteca” and “Birks Works,” Monk’s “ ‘Round Midnight,” as well as a newer piece called “The Tenor Sound.”

Sam Rivers, long known as an avant-garde, has turned into a comedian himself under Gillespie’s wing; dancing around during a solo by the Cuban drummer Ignacio Berroa, he showed that he has adjusted to this setting without compromising his music, which achieved its fiery fortitude on both soprano and tenor saxes.

The most intriguing sideman is Ed Cherry, a guitarist who aped the leader closely and brilliantly in a modal tune, sung and played to striking effect by Dizzy, who said he had picked up this Hebraic strain during one of visits to Israel.

John Lee is a schooled musician who, were he to apply his talent to the upright bass instead of the electric instrument he favors, would provide a more solid foundation.

Cherry and Lee seemed unprepared to accompany Clora Bryant, the surprise guest. After reading the music to an original song she had composed and dedicated to Gillespie, they backed her trumpet solo on “Day by Day,” an old number with which they seemed unfamiliar. But when Bryant began playing a slow, funky blues, they helped bring her stint to a dazzling climax that all but stole the show.

Ignacio Berroa may be the strongest and most versatile drummer Gillespie has hired in years. From the opening 12/8 beat and on through a maze of other meters and rhythms, he was a tower of power.