Four Samplings From the Mainstream

The modern mainstream mode of jazz is one of the art forms most prevalent. It finds musicians exploring the jazz traditions of swing and be-bop but with contemporary stylings. Recent releases by four modern mainstream trumpeters investigate this hearty vein of jazz with varying degrees of success.

* * 1/2 ROY HARGROVE “Of Kindred Souls” Here’s a “live” date from the stellar 23-year-old trumpeter who has long sounded better in person than on recordings made in the studio. Recorded in several U.S. nightspots, Hargrove mostly leads a quintet, though the band is augmented with additional horns on some occasions.

A good assortment of modern mainstream tunes is offered. There are slow, steamy originals (“Mothered”), tunes with an edgy, modern cast (“The Left Side”) and evergreen standards (“My Shining Hour”). Throughout, the melody-driven leader, like a produce shopper with a keen eye for the best tomatoes, picks his notes with utmost care, yet he never surrenders to cold precision his fondness for spontaneous outbursts and for blues-tinged lines.

Hargrove is surrounded by a first-rate cast. Saxophonist Ron Blake, pianist Marc Cary, bassist Rodney Whitaker--a swell composer and ace improviser--and drummer Greg Hutchison assist the leader in creating musical statements that dance and throb.

* * 1/2 TERENCE BLANCHARD “The Malcolm X Jazz Suite”

Do tunes taken from a movie score serve as a solid basis for a thematic quintet album? Not always, as trumpeter-composer Blanchard’s latest project illustrates.

These 11 selections, drawn from the leader’s soundtrack to Spike Lee’s “Malcolm X,” are either brooding and dark (“The Opening”) or spritely yet angular (the brisk “Theme for Elijah,” “The Nation”). This compositional flavor makes sense, given the film’s subject matter, but the almost monochromatic tone and closed-in feeling of these tunes don’t readily make a listener eager to hear them again.

The album’s somber aspect leads to improvisational situations that do not encourage warm, lyrical statements from any of the major soloists--Blanchard, tenor saxophonist Sam Newsome and pianist Brian Bath, who are fine musicians all.

The leader’s sound is broad and gutsy, and his playing exhibits flow. And while he manages to sing through his horn on the lovely “Theme for Betty,” the slow and evocative “Malcolm at Peace” and the biting blues “Malcolm Makes Hajj,” there’s a shortage here of such memorable moments.

* * * CECIL BRIDGEWATER “I Love Your Smile”

Long hidden away in Max Roach’s quartet, this veteran trumpeter offers a compelling, accessible program that reveres musicality. From the rapid opener “Magic,” a gregarious blues, to the no-holds-barred quality of “Scott Free,” Bridgewater works with a personal stance, swinging hard, looking for doors that haven’t been opened, his ear on those that have. Plain pretty numbers like the title track and “Sophisticated Lady” round out the set. Pianist Sir Roland Hanna, drummer Roach and saxophonist Antonio Hart are among the participants.

* * 1/2 ARTURO SANDOVAL “Dream Come True”

The Cuban expatriate trumpeter is regaled for his sky-high notes, his red-glare, rocketing lines. But his strength is simplicity, stating a passage with feeling, not scads of notes. On six tracks--”Naima,” “Vida Real” and “To Diz With Love” among them--Sandoval is backed by an orchestra arranged with typical sumptuousness by Michel Legrand. The small band cuts, however, tend toward overkill.

* Critics Choice--Bennie Maupin, the esteemed saxophonist whose work with Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Miles Davis and Lee Morgan earned him the profound respect of his peers and his audience, is back. After a lengthy hiatus from performing under his own name, the Altadena resident tonight begins a five-Fridays-in-July series at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Employing a different quartet each Friday, the improviser who deftly blends intellect with emotional release will investigate selections that range from jazz standards done in a personal vein to bristling originals.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good, recommended), four stars (excellent).