Jazz Reviews : Jack Sheldon Leads Big Band at Moonlight Tango

Jack Sheldon drew an overflow crowd Monday as he inaugurated a new name-group policy at the Moonlight Tango in Sherman Oaks, where a big band has played regularly once a week.

A staple on the West Coast jazz scene for 40 years as trumpeter, singer, comedian and actor, Sheldon has been the eternal sideman or small-combo leader. Clearly, though, this 16-piece ensemble is a logical setting for his eloquent boppish horn, his tongue-in-cheek vocals and weird sense of humor.

The band owes a special debt to Tom Kubis, who has supplied most of the arrangements, his own tenor saxophone, and a group of musicians, most of whom have worked under his direction. His reworkings of such standards as “Don’t Worry About Me” and Thelonious Monk’s “Well You Needn’t” shed new light on old sources.

Sheldon is generous in his use of other soloists. His spirit of noblesse oblige was best exemplified in “Superman,” a showcase for the bravura trumpet of George Graham. Mike Fahn on valve trombone and Danny House on alto sax were heard from briefly but effectively.

This is a very live room, in which the sound of a band at times tends to overpower Sheldon’s vocals and even his horn. The packed and less than silent house was another somewhat inhibiting factor, though there was never any doubt that Sheldon and his sidemen (and two sidewomen in the sax section) found a special pleasure in bringing these energizing charts to life.

Steve Allen will lead an all-star band of Local 47 regulars on Monday.