Jazz Reviews : Akiyoshi Band Lives Up to ‘Sounds of Genius’

The presentation of the Toshiko Akiyoshi Orchestra at Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena was part of the “Sounds of Genius Series.” Genius is a term tossed around too often by hucksters, but if ever it was merited, this unique composer-arranger-pianist-bandleader deserves it.

Ironically, the band she co-led in Los Angeles from 1973-82 with the tenor saxophonist and flutist Lew Tabackin was never invited to the Ambassador. Thursday’s concert, their first ever in this acoustically splendid hall, was given by the orchestra she and Tabackin formed in New York after moving back East seven years ago.

Both orchestras were the creatures of Akiyoshi’s intensely fertile mind. More than any other writer in modern times except Gil Evans, she has been a wellspring of melodic invention, of textural colors that far transcend the simple brass-reeds-rhythm patterns of the traditional big band.

In “Blue Dream,” one of two consecutive works that made the 5/4 meter seem as natural as a heartbeat, she juxtaposed Tabackin’s flute with low, contrasting brass sonorities. Her own sublime piano solo on “Remembering Bud” (dedicated to the late Bud Powell) led to a passage in which five flutes were backed by trombones and muted trumpets. The changes of color, tempo, meter and dynamics within the body of a given piece were handled with superb finesse by this incomparable ensemble.

Tabackin as always is the principal soloist, surely the premier tenor saxophonist and arguably the finest flutist on today’s jazz scene. Among the other soloists, Scott Robinson and Jim Snidero on baritone and alto saxes were the best of an adventurous bunch.

From the opening “Strive for Jive” (built on a basic “I Got Rhythm” line) through the complexities of “Feast in Milano” to the familiar shuffle blues played as an encore, Akiyoshi paid as much attention to diversification as to the act of creation. That she is able to keep this orchestra together only for two or three months a year seems almost criminal at a time when mediocrity on a mass scale rules the airwaves and the rock concert halls.