Jazz Reviews : Land Quintet at Windows on Hollywood

Displaying the class and imagination that has kept him in the upper echelon of jazz improvisers for almost 40 years, tenor saxophonist Harold Land led his quintet through several spirited numbers Sunday at the brunch at Windows on Hollywood.

Though the band--composed of longtime partners Oscar Brashear, trumpet, Harold Land Jr., bassist Richard Reid and drummer Fritz Wise--hadn’t performed in five months, one could hardly tell. The ensemble passages, even on the most complex melodies, were crisp and tight, and the interplay between rhythm section and soloist was cohesive yet spontaneous.

The senior Land’s approach mixed a Coltrane-ish angularity with smooth, rounded bebop phrasing that never strayed from the swinging essence of the music. On a break-neck “The Night Has a Thousand Eyes” and the medium tempo “Lazy Bird,” he played an artistic array of ideas that included speedy scale lines, turn-on-a-dime ideas and an oft-repeated albeit distinctive cliche--a ricocheting series of notes that sounded like they were being bounced off walls.

On both “Night” and “Lazy Bird,” Brashear also played solos that were chock full of listenable moments, cooking with relaxation and poise and invention. Land Jr., working with a high degree of musicality, soloed with sweet, singing lines that were often followed by attractive, dancing block chords. Reid and Wise were ideal partners in this most flavorful of musical stews, offering accompaniment that buoyed the proceedings.

An ace band like Land’s, certainly one of the area’s top ensembles, deserves to be heard more than a few times a year.