JAZZ REVIEW : Berrys Showcase Talents of Japan at the Biltmore

It has long been a given that Japan is by far the most hospitable and enthusiastic importer of American jazz. However, the Japanese participants at the second annual International Jazz Party last weekend at the Grand Avenue Bar of the Biltmore Hotel left no doubt that this is becoming a two-way street.

Hosted by cornetist Bill Berry and his wife, Betty, along with veteran clarinetist Eiji Kitamura and trumpeter Shozo Okuda, this was a unique event both for the audience and for the Asian musicians, most of whom had never visited the United States and were delighted at the chance to work alongside their American idols.

Hidaki Kon speaks no English, but his fluent, post-bop piano offered a powerful reminder of the cliche about jazz as the international language. Sharing the rhythm backup were the superb bassist John Clayton and drummer Jake Hanna, offering support to the peerless trombone of Carl Fontana and the hard-driving tenor sax of Bob Cooper.

The most original visiting player Friday was the guitarist Yoshiaki Miyanoue. Reflecting no one American influence, his “Caravan” solo was rich in melodic and rhythmic surprises. More derivative but entertaining was Yoshinori Asami, whose voice-and-bowed-bass duets with himself displayed him as the Slam Stewart of Japan.

While the tunes at this informal session were U.S. standards, the Sunday-evening concert was more formalized. Masao Ishii presented his Albatross Swing Jazz Orchestra from Nikko--technically an amateur group of 16 men and three women with an impressive six-piece sax section. Their collective precision far outstripped the solo work, though this problem was solved when such pros as Spike Robinson and Bill Berry played guest shots.

For the last set, Berry’s own band took over--17 superlative musicians at the peak of their form. A surprise finale found both groups on the bandstand--36 musicians in a wild excursion on the A train.

What made the event most gratifying was its display of cross-cultural good vibes and international talent trades at a time when the two countries are engaged in so many angry extra-musical exchanges.