If Mellotones Sound Like the Duke, It’s by Design

Duke Ellington died 15 years ago, yet he lives on through his music. Ellington’s band continues under the direction of his son Mercer, and in San Diego, the Mellotones are dedicated to the Duke.

The band takes its name from the Ellington tune “In a Mellotone,” which emphasizes tight interplay between the ensemble and the soloist. Under the direction of baritone sax man Gordon Grinnell, this nine-piece ensemble, which plays Horton Plaza shopping center in downtown San Diego Sunday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., draws on Grinnell’s collection of Ellington charts. He believes it to be one of the largest in the world.

With three saxes, three brass (two trumpets and a trombone), and a rhythm section of piano, bass and drums, the Mellotones are able to achieve the wide range of innovative voicings Ellington used in his compositions. For this performance, two guest saxophonists will be featured: Rod Cradit and Gary Lefebvre. Lefebvre played with trumpeter Chet Baker in the ‘50s, and his playing at times echoes Baker’s laid-back, sensuous sound, although Lefebvre is equally comfortable with frenetic be-bop. Cradit has played with many of the top big bands. The two performed together recently at Diego’s Loft in Pacific Beach.

Grinnell retired to San Diego from New York 10 years ago and immediately began tapping the local jazz scene. He formed the Mellotones three years ago, and the band features a changing cast of top local players. Big band music is not in popular demand, so most of the group’s work comes in the form of “casuals”--bookings for private parties.

Among Grinnell’s favorite songs are some sensuous ballads penned by Billy Strayhorn to feature the honey-smooth playing of Ellington band saxophonist Johnny Hodges. “I’ll be asking Gary to play those,” Grinnell said.

He first heard Ellington & Co. in Buffalo in the mid-’30s, and met him several times in New York City. Grinnell’s wife, Janet, once sent the Duke lyrics to “In a Mellotone,” and the couple received Christmas cards from him for several years. “Harry Carney, his baritone man, was my No. 1 hero,” Grinnell said.

Shadowfax is one of the more interesting bands getting play on contemporary jazz radio. At its best, as on some of the cuts from the band’s newest album, “Folksongs for a Nuclear Village,” its “world music” pulses along nicely, with electronic melodies laid over pulsing rhythm tracks combining synthesizers and African percussion instruments. Percussionist Stuart Nevitt’s arsenal includes shakers, shaman rattles, kiwi drums, tambourines, talking drum, log drums and congas.

The group plays two San Diego shows this Friday night at 7 and 10:30 at the Bacchanal, 8022 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.

Jazz is traditionally dominated by men, but KSDS-FM (88.3) at San Diego City College is getting women involved. Out of 45 disc jockeys, eight are females, including six with regular shows. Not only does the station give women rare on-air experience as jazz jocks, but with the show “Instrumental Women,” hosted by Janine Harty, San Diegans are hearing a wide range of jazz produced by women.

Some of the female jocks are relatively new to jazz, but loving it.

“I’ve listened to KSDS since I graduated from Mira Mesa High School in 1979,” said Barbara Van Dyken. “I was really into radio, but I didn’t like rock and roll. I happened to find KSDS. I’ve always done menial jobs, but I was thinking about radio in the back of my mind. Two or three years ago I decided what I wanted to do. I took a radio course, auditioned for the station, and got a position.”

All on-air people at KSDS are unpaid. Van Dyken makes her living driving taxis. She works the 3 to 6 slot every Tuesday afternoon, dishing up a variety of jazz including her favorite flavor: spicy Latin. Mongo Santamaria, Tito Puente, Poncho Sanchez, Sergio Mendes, Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto are frequently heard.

Harty, also a city college student, had virtually no knowledge of jazz when she started as a jock last July. But she once had a rhythm and blues show at a college-operated station in Chico, Calif., so the transition seemed natural.

She delights in uncovering great jazz you’ve probably never heard before, like several all-female jazz orchestras from the ‘30s and ‘40s.

Her “Instrumental Women” airs Wednesday afternoons during the final hour of her 12-to-3 shift.

The other female jocks with regular shows at KSDS are Erin Searles, who hosts “Silhouette in Jazz” Saturday afternoons from 12 to 3; Peggy Claire, whose show airs Thursday nights from 6 to 9 and includes the “Vocal Spotlight” from 7 to 8; Diana Whitaker, Saturday mornings from 6 to 9; and Evie Harp, Wednesday nights from 9 to midnight.

RIFFS: Saturday from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., at the downtown Marriott Hotel next to Seaport Village, Eddie Palmieri and his Afro-Caribbean Jazz play a Red Cross benefit dance, with proceeds going to hurricane relief in Puerto Rico. Tickets are $8, available from the American Red Cross, 3650 Fifth Ave.; The Gold Merchant, 3683 University Ave.; Andre’s Patio Cuban restaurant, 1235 Morena Blvd.; and Pend Mart, 1419 N. Hill St., Oceanside. Tickets also will be available at the door. . . . San Diego flutist Holly Hofmann plays Friday and Saturday nights during October at the Horton Grand Hotel in the Gaslamp Quarter downtown. . . . Randy Porter will be at the piano from 7 to 11 tonight through Saturday at the Beach House restaurant at the end of Pismo Court in Mission Beach. . . . Singer Dee Dee Bridgewater is featured on “Le Jazz Club,” the regular French jazz show airing Sunday nights at 7 on KSDS. At 9 on Sunday night, the station is doing a special program on the great ladies of the blues, including Sippie Wallace, Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey.