Jazz Reviews : At My Place Hosts Night of Big Bands

It was Big Band night at Santa Monica’s At My Place on Tuesday, with a nearly full eveningdevoted to the large ensembles of Les Hooper and Paolo Nonnis.

There are, of course, many groups--rehearsal bands, for the most part--that surface from time to time in various Southland clubs. But the economic hazards of supporting 15 or so skilled performers makes it almost impossible to sustain such ensembles on a full-time basis.

The brightly appealing music of Hooper’s group, however, suggested that the right leader, with the right musicians, playing the right pieces might be able to overcome the obvious financial obstacles to Big Band success.

Hooper’s arrangements boldly moved beyond the riff-focused, saxes-vs.-trombones-vs.-trumpets interaction of most Big Band writing. In pieces like “Look What They’ve Done to My Song,” “Rooster Parade” and “Chicken Polo,” he energized the blues-based phrasing and funk-driven rhythms of contemporary pop music with the surge and power of a big jazz ensemble.

Among the group’s many fine soloists, the work of tenor saxophonist Gordon Goodwin best matched the Vanguard feel of the music.

Nonnis’ band played with equal skill, but its music lacked the inventiveness of Hooper’s charts. Accordingly, the best moments came from the many fine soloists: Bob Clark’s soaring lead trumpet work; Richard Allen’s eccentrically humorist piano solos; Phil Feather’s elegant alto saxophone and John Schrader’s roiling tenor saxophone improvisations.

Appearing briefly with the Hooper band, as well as with his own quintet, was singer-guitarist Preston Smith--a performer who roves the outer limits of blues expressionism. At times so imitative that he sounded like a parody of the Blues Brothers, Smith also had a few moments in which his weird vitality came close to creating a characterization with the off-the-wall uniqueness of a musical Pee-wee Herman.