Jazz : Herman Band, Cheathams Bolster Series

The second “Jazz at the Music Center” concert was more successful musically than on the levels of economics, acoustics and organization.

There were barely 1,000 paid admissions Friday at the 3,200-capacity Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Again there were sound problems. Jeannie Cheatham, singing with the Sweet Baby Blues Band co-led by her trombonist husband Jimmy Cheatham, was audible on ballads but battled to be heard on upbeat tunes. However, this entertaining group drew the only standing ovation.

The stage-wait difficulties that plagued the first concert a week earlier were repeated Friday while stagehands set up for the Cheathams; surely an added intermission would be better than sitting around watching nothing.

As for the sound men, engineers today seem capable only of working on rock and fusion groups. The Woody Herman Band, a solidly musical crew, triumphed over sonic arts; at times the drummer made the piano inaudible.

Frank Tiberi, who joined in 1969 and took over leadership shortly before Herman’s death in 1987, has built this into more than just another ghost band. The young players were no less capable of bringing new life to “Apple Honey” and “Woodchoppers’ Ball” than of handling Joe Zawinul’s “Carnavalito” or Chick Corea’s “Samba Song.”

For this occasion, Tiberi brought in three ringers who graced the Herman bands of the 1940s (trumpeter Pete Candoli), ‘50s (pianist-arranger Nat Pierce) and ‘60s (trombonist Bill Watrous). As he made clear in a dazzling solo on “What’s New,” Watrous should be leading his own band rather than working as an addition to an apparition.

The opening hour by Buddy Collette’s Sextet, despite the distinguished careers of Collette, guitarist Al Viola and pianist Milcho Leviev, was strangely static, coming to life only in the final number when Collette brought out cellist Fred Katz (his teammate in the 1956 Chico Hamilton Quintet) for a witty piece called “The Walker.” Though the sound balance may have been to blame, the rhythm section rarely established a unified beat during this long, low-key set.