Jazz Reviews : Australia Jazz Orchestra at Catalina Bar & Grill

Though it was cold and blustery outside, on the bandstand at Catalina Bar & Grill Tuesday everything was piping hot as the Australian Jazz Orchestra, a 12-piece all-star aggregation from Down Under, roared through a six-tune opening set of modern mainstream jazz that was always exciting and occasionally electrifying.

The band (four reeds, brass and rhythm) revealed a pleasing fresh and powerful sound, due in part to a wealth of original material arranged with panache and verve--the charts accented the deeper, more resonant qualities of the horns, with no mutes and few flutes--and to the bravura soloists, who generated both substance and swing.

Highlights abounded. Altoist Bernie McGann’s “Lazy Days” swayed between medium and spritely tempos and steered the horns through loping, snaking lines and hit-hard-as-nails Monk-ish chords. Here tenorist Dale Barlow used a rich, Coltrane-tinged sound to speak volumes, going from funky phrases to high-pitched wails and jack-rabbit bursts. Baritonist Don Burrows charged into the relaxed-yet-edgy “Lace Embrace” like a demon driver taking no rest stops, churning out throaty whelps, careening lines and arpeggiated chords--all tied together into a dazzling multicolored whole.

Trombonist James Morrison exhibited wit and virtuosity on “Jitterbug Waltz,” where a bristling eight-bar ensemble wallop followed the soloist’s spirited melody reading. Later, Morrison picked up the larger euphonium and blew mad, wonderful bebop at breakneck speed on reedman Bob Bertles’ “Blues for Clancy.” The latter began with a stunning five-chorus introduction by pianist Paul Grabowsky, who galloped up and down the keys with the precision and poise of Magic Johnson on a fast break. The pianist’s thundering “Bundle’s Big Bop”--loosely based on “It’s You or No One” and outfitted with an ensemble chorus that wove threads of a dozen Charlie Parker compositions into a seamless, ear-teasing tapestry--gave Bertles, guitarist Doug De Vries, fluegelbonist Dave Panichi and Clifford Brown-inspired trumpeter Warwick Alder chances to shine.

Sadly, the weather, lack of publicity or plain indifference kept the audience to a handful. Too bad, because local listeners and local musicians could have profited from the infusion of solid jazzmanship offered by these fellows from afar.