JAZZ REVIEW : A Brobdingnagian Outing : Shorty Rogers’ Giants Meet High Expectations in Cafe Lido Show

“Giants” is a term Shorty Rogers doesn’t take lightly. The name, which he’s given to various ensembles he’s led since the ‘50s, was particularly apt for the group he brought into the Cafe Lido on Sunday.

The sextet--tall tenor man Bob Cooper, saxophonist Bill Perkins, pianist Lou Levy, drummer Larance Marable and bassist Eric von Essen--made a big impression during a program of Rogers’ arrangements and originals.

Together, Rogers, Cooper, Perkins and Marable make up fully half the Lighthouse All Stars, a group that usually performs at major festivals here and abroad, with only the rare club date.

Levy, whose solid credentials include long tenures with Stan Getz, Ella Fitzgerald and Peggy Lee as well as with Rogers way back when, fit comfortably into the Rogers approach.

Von Essen, the youngest member of the group--a late addition who substituted for an ailing Monty Budwig--has played both sides of the street, doing avant-garde -tinged sessions with such musicians as Nels Cline and being tabbed for the Art Farmer-Frank Morgan “Central Avenue Reunion” recording (which also includes Levy). The chance to see and hear these stalwarts in intimate surroundings was promising indeed.

And the Giants didn’t disappoint. The front-line blend of fluegelhorn, tenor and Perkins’ baritone made for a particularly rich sound, and Rogers gave his compatriots plenty of room to solo. Marable, a wonderfully tone-conscious drummer who uses an unending number of rhythmic figures, lent a persistent drive to the proceedings. Levy varied his usually economic style with polished runs that accelerated out of surprising places. Deep, solid accompaniment from Von Essen was sprinkled with sparkling up-register tones plucked from the neck of his instrument. The bassist’s improvisations were melodic without heavy reliance on the particular tune’s melody.

Cooper opened the old Frankie Laine theme song, “We’ll Be Together Again,” with mellow, unaccompanied musings, then filled his solo with quick ascending lines driven by Marable’s slap-happy brush work. The drummer whipped up a rattling double-time on his rims during Bud Powell’s “Un Poco Loco,” and Rogers soloed with light, fluttering circles of notes.

Perkins took a mischievous turn on soprano that was full of sliding tones as Levy fattened up his sound for the rhythmic exercise, taking a roly-poly approach that he broke with quietly stated dissonant chords. Norman (Tiny) Kahn’s “T.N.T.” found Perkins, on baritone, blowing strong, short bursts while he ran in place to the beat.

Rogers’ well-known Martian series was represented by one of its original compositions, “Martians Go Home,” a title Rogers said he got from a restroom wall. The tune’s wily theme was broken by bass-only passages before taking off on Marable’s strong beat. At one point, during an exchange of lines with Von Essen, the entire band went quiet for the requisite four counts before blasting off again.