JAZZ REVIEWS : Cameron’s Natural Approach : The electric violinist brings a singer’s stylings, including a wide variety of expression, to his performance at El Matador in Huntington Beach.
As musical instruments, the violin and the human voice have much in common. Both can generate the same kinds of effects: shrieks, screams, whispers, sustained tones that slide about the scale, varying degrees of vibrato. In other words, both offer the skilled musician a veritable arsenal of expression.
Electric violinist Doug Cameron suggested this comparison Friday at El Matador by bringing a singer’s stylings to his instrument. Though Antonio Stradivari may not have immediately identified Cameron’s bright blue fiddle for what it was, he would have immediately recognized its natural sound, even with its wireless remote amplification.
In the now-familiar El Matador format--standards and the headliner’s originals played by a pickup band that most always includes bassist Luther Hughes (who books the room)--Cameron worked expressive lines with a vocalist’s finesse and embellishment through such tunes as “On Green Dolphin Street” and his own “Mil Amores,” the title tune from his most recent recording.
Though there was nothing overly demanding about the set, it showed the violinist to be a warm and confident narrator who, to his credit, doesn’t take things too seriously.
That fact was apparent on Cameron’s “Magia Espanola,” a pleasantly predictable Latin-flavored number that the violinist graced with one of his more spirited improvisations. He strolled off the bandstand during his solo to serenade a table of revelers, then closed the tune with an unaccompanied melody statement that included several dramatic moments of silence and flourishes with his bow. This bit of fun made the simple chart a little easier to take.
Cameron also showed a playful sense during his “Flavor of Ireland,” a highland jig that provided one of the few insights into his more-than-competent technique. An arrangement of “Over the Rainbow” balanced moments that poked a little fun at the familiar melody with expressive passages that saw Cameron capitalizing on his vocal-like stylings.
Drummer Mike Jochum, whose credits include backing Jackson Browne as well as Cameron on his recent disc, pushed the set along with rock-minded drive and upfront swing, even when hitting with the brushes. He injected stimulating double-times in surprising places and flew across the bridges with strong tom-tom play, putting a touch of Elvin Jones into “On Green Dolphin Street.” During an exchange on “Sugar,” a tune popularized by saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, one of his rolls was nicely echoed by Cameron, giving the violin some rhythmic as well as melodic credibility.
Keyboardist Mark Massey, added at the last minute, made the best of an instrument with a broken sustain pedal. Massey took a happy-go-lucky stance at the keys, thickening his solos with strong chordal play and inserting clever responses between Cameron’s lines on the tune “Here’s That Rainy Day.” Hughes, as always, provided good, low-end support and lyrical improvisational play decorated with highlights from the bass’s upper range.
Though there was little inventive about Cameron’s own tunes, the set contained enough variety to keep it from becoming tiresome. One hopes that, in the future, Cameron will furnish himself with more ambitious material. That way, his violin can truly sing.