JAZZ REVIEW : Milt Hinton and Friends Duke It Out

Speaking literally, Friday night’s festivities at the outdoor amphitheatre of the Hyatt Newporter Resort, where bass ace Milt Hinton was spotlighted, should have been called “A Tribute to Duke Ellington,” not “A Tribute to Jimmy Blanton.”

Most of the Ellington tunes performed in the two-set concert weren’t songs that Blanton--the seminal bass figure who was with Ellington’s orchestra just two years (1939-41) and died of tuberculosis in 1942 at age 23--recorded or played with the maestro.

But who cared?

Hinton, a spry and spirited 81 years young, and his comrades--pianist Gerald Wiggins and drummer Jake Hanna--delivered their wares with such zeal and authenticity that the evening could have been called “A Tribute to Woody Herman,” with whom Hanna toured and recorded in the ‘60s, and it would have been a success.

To borrow a phrase that was once used to describe the great mainstream trombonist Vic Dickenson, the trio had “ears like vacuum cleaners.” They heard everything.

If Hinton, a New York City resident who is probably best known for his 16-year stint with Cab Calloway from 1936-51, offered a punchy rhythmic figure during a solo--say on “What Am I Here For?”--then Hanna and Wiggins would pick up that motif and employ it themselves, creating, as Hinton quipped at one point, “arrangements while you wait.” The musicians had no rehearsal, but the tightness of their performance belied that fact.

The trio often seemed to expand into an orchestra. Wiggins was pivotal in developing this larger sound. A master of locked-hands voicings--where 10-note chords take care of the melody rather than single-note lines--and thunderous tremolos, he made his instrument roar at times. Underpinning his activities were Hanna’s crisp, crackling accompaniments and Hinton’s fat and sassy tone.

The opening set included looks at such 1930s and ‘40s classics as “Lady Be Good” and “How High the Moon,” as well as such Ellington evergreens as “Prelude to a Kiss,” where Hinton’s bowed work was exquisite, and “C Jam Blues.”

Hinton closed the first half of the concert with a humorous ditty called “Old Man Time,” which he sang in a gravelly, high-pitched voice. Lines such as “They gave me beauty and grace . . . and then they put wrinkles in my face” drew laughs from the crowd.

The bassist, who rarely appears in Southern California and who is sometimes referred by his nickname “The Judge,” led his cohorts through mostly Ellingtonia in the second half, which was broadcast live over KLON-FM (88.1).

An encore of “C Jam Blues,” where Wiggins coaxed a rich, rumbling, Ellington-like tone from the piano, led to “Mood Indigo,” where Hinton’s notes--round and resilient as tennis balls--handled the melody.

Billy Strayhorn’s “Take the ‘A’ Train” was the sole piece of the night that Blanton actually recorded with Ellington, and the trio gave Duke’s theme song a solid workout, with Hinton offering cleanly picked double-time figures that sounded like the utterances of a much younger fellow.

The set was also highlighted by Wiggins’ tender reading of “In a Sentimental Mood,” where Hinton’s bass lines succinctly supported what the pianist was playing, and a brisk stroll through a non-Ducal vehicle, “Idaho.”