Jazz : Bolling Brings Big Band to Ambassador

The Ambassador Auditorium’s selection of a French performer to open its Pasadena Jazz Weekend on Saturday night was an unusual choice. Claude Bolling has been best known for his pleasant if lightweight series of works for solo classical instruments and jazz trios. This time, however, he arrived with a 17-piece big band.

There may still be a glimmer of chauvinistic surprise that an all-French ensemble can generate credible jazz, but it’s only a glimmer. And given the excellence of the current generation of international players, the real surprise was that Bolling’s musicians--who are drawn from Paris’ active recording studios--displayed no more adventurousness than a typical American congregation of similar background.

One problem was that Bolling’s pieces did not provide a great deal of substance for his sidemen. Pleasantly melodic, overflowing with references to familiar jazz riffs, they were comfortably--if passively--within the limits of ‘40s and ‘50s big band writing.

A smidgen of Ellington appeared during “In a Mellow Tone,” and the Basie allusions were fast and furious in “From C. B. to C. B. With Love.” There were even brief segments of Dixieland and boogie-woogie. Bolling seemed determined to color in as many jazz hues as possible--but rarely with anything more than the lightest of pastel shading.

The rare moments of bright, primary coloration were supplied mostly by tenor saxophonist Carl Schlosser, who played with the sound and fury of a Lockjaw Davis, and flutist Pierre Schirrer, with a hard-driving, Herbie Mann-influenced style.