MUSIC REVIEW : Fresh Compositions From Rodney Oakes

Despite all the electronic gadgetry, the premise was quite simple. In the middle of the technology, at the center of those pulsating blurps, bleeps and bumps, stood a trombonist, the composer Rodney Oakes

And there was the rub. As it turned out Saturday night at Los Angeles Harbor College, Oakes--fresh from a Fulbright-sponsored jaunt through Poland, Hungary and France and sharing some of the fruits of that journey--is a rather indifferent trombonist.

Time after time, Oakes the composer, with the aid of MIDI, ZOOM 9002 and DAT, set up musical situations in which Oakes the trombone soloist could shine, indeed had to shine for the music to go anywhere. The grooves were there, the stage was set, and Oakes simply noodled.

In brief pieces called “Blues Danube,” “The Noble Pigeons,” “Blues for Gorby” and “Dada Blues,” Oakes put into motion taped patterns of throbbing bass, brassy syncopations and percussive bell sounds, jazzy, spacey backdrops. In he would come with the main theme, the trombone timbre doubled and tripled by synthesized voices, trumpets, percussion. So far, so OK.

But it pretty much stopped there. The pieces quickly degenerated into solo sections in which Oakes failed to produce much heat or any gusto.

More satisfying were “Lullaby for Emily” and, especially, “Krystyna,” a traditional ballad in which Oakes offered mellow, lyrical melody (both as trombonist and composer).