O.C. Jazz Review : Styles Are Their Umbrella

It was sometime during drummer Ralph Penland’s mid-afternoon performance of Herbie Hancock’s blustery “Eye of the Hurricane” when the sun broke through the clouds to shine on the Southern California Jazz Festival. It was a nicely ironic touch for Saturday’s edition of the fest, held on two stages between high-rises and the San Diego freeway on the grounds of the Koll Center.

Until then, the weather situation had been touch and go. Friday’s opening installment of the three-day event ended prematurely under an early evening downpour. Saturday’s schedule looked like it might suffer the same fate.

Luckily, the dark clouds stayed to the south and north. And despite breezy conditions, unseasonably cool temperatures and further threats of rain after the sun went down, the festival’s first complete day kept its musical promise.

Though the overall lineup weighed in heavily on the side of beat-driven, contemporary sounds, Saturday’s schedule provided enough contrast to interest even the most-jaded listeners. Mixed in with the synthesizer wash, booming bass and the whine of electric guitars were mainstream jazz combos, a New Orleans-styled piano professor and a cabaret vocalist.

If that weren’t enough, one could always wander away from the stages to peruse the wares of arts and craft dealers as well as sample foods from 17 area restaurants.

None of the bands was able to stir the crowd, estimated by this reviewer at no more than 2,000 during its peak, into a dance-party frenzy as seems to happen at least once each day at the annual Playboy Festival in the Hollywood Bowl. Maybe fans were too comfortable wrapped in blankets and ensconced on their lawn chairs to get up and boogie. But there were a number of musical highlights.

The day’s most entertaining set came from A.J. Croce, the son of the late singer-songwriter Jim Croce. Seated at the grand piano, Croce has the good, slick-backed looks of Harry Connick Jr., but, unlike Connick, his musical view looks to low, rather than high, society. Backed by a three-piece horn section, guitar bass and drums, Croce spun tales, sang the blues and played rollicking, barrel-house styled piano. He preluded almost all of his numbers with a clever story tagged with the line, “and it feels something like this.”

The most amazing thing about Croce is his voice, a gruff, serious instrument that sounds as if it might come from someone much older. His well-paced delivery on the seasoned standard “Trouble in Mind” reflected more dues paying than someone of his 22 years has probably seen.

At the piano, Croce is a blend of Art Tatum and Jerry Lee Lewis, mixing jazz-inspired lines with trills and glissandi. His band is equally dexterous, featuring fine contributions from pocket trumpeter Mitch Manker, saxophonist Paco Shipp (who also added some virtuosic harmonica work) and saxophonist-clarinetist Evan Christopher, who’s been seen around Orange County leading his own Dixieland-flavored band.

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After Croce, keyboardist Daniel Ho’s fusion band Kilauea offered an easy-to-take array of rhythmically accessible tunes. Ho is a composer with an ear for the melodic, and he stuck mostly to acoustic piano, giving, at times, a chamber group feel to particularly geometric numbers, especially those that included Greg Vail’s flute.

On saxophone, Vail served as the band’s fireplug, heating up the tunes each time he took a solo turn. His work on Ho’s “Bedroom Eyes”--during a solo that found him playing on his knees--was especially invigorating.

Closing act Richard Elliot also got down on his knees to play his tenor sax. The former Tower of Power horn section man applied strong R & B chops to his beat-minded selections, playing aggressively with a bit of raunch here and there, or working with warmth and intimacy as he did on “I’m Not in Love.” He closed his own “Take Your Time” with an extended winding down that found his hard-edged attack softening into a series of sputters and reverb.

Elliot’s guitarist, Richard Smith, took advantage of the set to show off his strong rhythm chops and high-powered way of improvising. Earlier in the day, leading his own quintet, Smith showed a preference for the prettier side of contemporary jazz, working with sensitivity during his own “From My Window” and when backing smoothly toned vocalist Lynn Scott in the ballad “Consider This Love.”

The festival ran close to schedule, falling 15 to 30 minutes behind as the evening wore on. Sound from the main stage, despite the white noise generated by the freeway, was passable if not perfect. But sound from the second stage was uneven, marred by bad balance and variations in volume. Though the weather held down attendance, this is an event that deserves a repeat performance in front of larger audiences next year.

In a break for drummer Penland’s Penland Polygon, the group was moved from the small, second stage and its uneven sound to the main stage. Penland, who has worked with Hancock, Freddie Hubbard and a host of others during his career, seized the opportunity. He delivered a strong set of standards and originals with his quintet that featured bassist Robert Hurst III, who’s seen with Branford Marsalis’ “Tonight Show” band.

Penland’s group is inspired by Miles Davis’ mid-1960s period, and they presented palatable versions of tunes from that era, notably “Eye of the Hurricane,” Wayne Shorter’s “Paraphernalia” and Joe Henderson’s “Caribbean Fire Dance.”

Though Penland, with his rolling tom-tom passages and assured way of building over the changes, was easily the group’s standout, fine improvisations were also heard from Hurst, saxophonist Gerald Pinter and pianist Greg Kirstin. Trumpeter Charles Moore often sounded more like Miles Davis than Miles himself, offering up a gaggle of clinkers, smeared, off-pitch tones and, on Thelonious Monk’s “‘Round Midnight,” muted, sometime choked trumpet musings.

The day’s opening act, The Blue Moon Jazz Trio with vocalist Maryanne Reall, pianist Bob Stevens and bassist Frank Garcia, delivered a cabaret set of standards, including “Blue Moon” that was marred by the buzz of traffic blowing by on the freeway. (This was a daylong problem on the main stage, which only the strongly amplified groups seemed able to overcome.) Bassist and airborne reporter Jennifer York’s quartet gave a trim presentation that spanned mainstream (Cedar Walton’s “Bolivia”) and modern (David Sanborn’s “Love Is Not Enough.”)

York is an enthusiastic player of both upright and electric basses and has surrounded herself with a group of like-minded musicians that features saxophonist Janine Del Arte. The group showed its mettle on Don Grolnick’s “Nothing Personal,” the modal workout made popular by saxophonist Michael Brecker. Their rhythmic savvy came across on Sonny Rollins’ “St. Thomas,” which featured York’s Latin-tinged electric bass propulsion.

Meanwhile, saxophonist Sonya Jason’s quartet continues to tighten up its act. Jason’s brand of beat-heavy, melodically inspired tunes were executed in muscular style, thanks to the firm work of drummer Dave Anderson and bassist Ernest Tibbs. There were times during her set that Jason seemed to be playing catch-up with her insistent rhythm section, but she won the crowd over with warm, occasionally hot expression on both alto and soprano instruments.

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Bassist Brian Bromberg’s appearance was filled with plenty of his technical flash, but little of musical interest. Bromberg treats his electric basses like a guitar, so much so that a second bassist is included in the group to keep the bottom solid. There’s no doubt that Bromberg is a master. His up-neck play, tapped out with finger from both hands, is especially amazing, but he could stand to bring some of the lyricism that he evokes on the upright to his electric work.

Local drummer Evan Stone and guitarist Gannin Arnold have found their format with their new band Departure, a quintet that includes keyboardist John Opferkuch, percussionist Jason Hann and bassist Bill Urson. The ensemble made its best showing on original material, with Arnold’s John Scofield-flavored guitar working as the principal voice and exchanges between Hann, on congas, and Stone spicing up the mix.

The festival’s Sunday schedule included Keiko Matsui, John Patitucci and Patrice Rushen and Ndugu Chancler.