Jazz Review : A Smorgasbord of Styles at Bash ’94

Trying to see it all at Sunday’s Orange County Musicians’ Bash ’94 was like trying to take in Disneyland during a single afternoon. You could run yourself silly and still miss plenty.

With continuous performances at five different venues on two levels inside the spacious Red Lion Hotel, the 24th annual Bash boasted some 300 musicians and diverse musical aggregations ranging from Dixieland bands to a classical flute and piano duo, from a steel-drum ensemble to a tuba-led be-bop band. But the emphasis was on jazz in all its current and historical forms.

There were a variety of tacks that attendees could take. The easiest was to ensconce oneself in a particular room--say Maxi’s Club, where the Dixieland and trad-jazz bands held court--and enjoy the parade of sounds over the event’s nine hours. Or you might study the program carefully, circle each hour’s favorite, then make the rounds.

Because many of the participating musicians who volunteered their time pulled double, triple or even quadruple duty, you also could follow a favorite player from performance to performance.

This method, akin to betting on the jockey rather than the horse, served to point up the utility of the musician, as in the case of trombonist Andy Martin. He played with tuba player John Noreyko’s brass ensemble Tubop, the straight-ahead big band of saxophonist Tom Kubis and the 20-piece Brazilian ensemble of Glen Garrett.

This kind of juxtaposition was the rule among many of the busier musicians. Pianist-composer Jack Reidling opened the day in the classical room playing his own new music compositions and Bach in tandem with saxophonist Leo Potts.

Reidling’s composition “Pophalgric Bint” (a title that means nothing, says its composer, but reflects the rhythm of one of its theme lines) held some George Gershwin-style romance and Debussy-like lushness despite its quirky, jazz-influenced pace. Potts, playing alto, layered unison lines on top of Reidling’s play and against some of the shorter, wily lines.

When Potts stopped midway through Reidling’s “Caprice” because of trouble with his soprano, Reidling immediately turned the stately dance into a dirty rag, bringing laughs from the audience. An arrangement for piano and soprano sax of a Bach flute sonata brought the session to a dignified close.

From there, Reidling moved to the big-band room, where Norm Major’s big band needed a substitute pianist. He added harmonics to “Just Friends,” while the tune’s up-tempo rhythm left only the most ambitious dancers on the floor. A more reserved “Shadow of Your Smile” brought them back.

Kubis’ arrangement of “When You’re Smiling” seemed tailor-made for Reidling as he sat in with Major’s orchestra (Reidling’s worked years with the Kubis band). But the pianist had to move across the hall to another performance just as the tune started, leaving the piece without the clever piano accents that are part of the arrangement’s character.

Reidling’s scheduled appearance with vocalist Karen Gallinger found him utilizing some of the same dynamic statements and detailed figures that he aired with Potts in the classical room. But he also showed plenty of swing and a good sense of the blues.

Gallinger, working from a new, self-produced CD, brought the usual high-strung excitement to her set, scatting through “Just Friends,” showing slow, sultry ways during “So Many Stars” and whooping it up stylistically during what’s becoming her signature tune, “Makin’ Whoopee.” The singer’s set was one of the day’s most exciting.

Reidling returned to the big-band room for his usual position as pianist in Kubis’ ensemble. Grand marshal Steve Allen joined the band as it performed Allen’s tunes, including one he calls “5000th Song,” an attractive little melody that signifies a landmark in the prolific composer’s career.

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In addition to counting off his tunes for the band, Allen’s only other musical contribution while on stage was to sing his lyric to “The Girl Can’t Help It.” But his quips, stories and asides were the delight of the event.

Kubis’ orchestra made the day’s strongest impression. Kubis, whose name Allen consistently mispronounced as CUE-bis , (instead of KOO-bis ), also arranged Allen’s tunes for big band. His orchestra swelled and sang through the themes, then backed fine improvisations from, among others, trumpeters Jeff Bunell and George Graham, trombonist Andy Martin and Kubis himself, who blew strong during Allen’s “I’m Going to Tell.”

Frank Amoss’ big band had a hard act to follow in the Kubis band. But it revved things up with “Perdido,” featuring Amoss’ muscular drumming, then added vocalist Roberta Linn, whose singing on “Stormy Weather” featured some of the drama that Judy Garland once brought to the tune. (Linn said she was using the same arrangement Garland had used.)

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Earlier in the day, the Golden State Dixieland Ramblers closed their set of fun-loving flag-raisers with “When the Saints Go Marching In” and “God Bless America,” which brought the listeners in Club Max to their feet. The Sounds of Swing, a group with four singers and a rhythm section, brought a touch of nostalgia to the lobby lounge (where a sign announced “contemporary music”) with its four-part harmonies in such numbers as “Teach Me Tonight” and “Mango.” Later, Ray Templin’s Chicagoans brought tight, well-executed trad-jazz to the same venue.

Guitarist Ron Eschete played his usual, skilled set in the company of bassist Todd Johnson and drummer Denny Dennis. His considered play during the ballad “Haunted Heart” contrasted nicely with a funky-side version of Fats Domino’s “I’m Walkin’.” At one point, as the trio played “My Romance,” a trumpet bleeding in through an open door from the big-band room seemed to fit in perfectly. Also in the jazz room, Dale Spaulding’s blues band featured rollicking, New Orleans-styled play from pianist Bill Steck.

Billed as the “Contemporary All Stars,” bassist Luther Hughes and guitarist Frank Potenza showed more refinement on a Jim Hall tune titled “Romaine” than is usually associated with fusion. Their group featured strong work from both saxophonist Hollis Gentry and pianist Mark Massey.

Glen Garrett’s Feijoado Completa big band hosted a few substitutes unfamiliar with the charts but managed to bring sway and sensuous interplay to its set with vocalist Katia Moraes.

While the Bash demonstrates the diverse styles of live music and musicians in Southern California, it also reflects the diverse taste of its audience. It was encouraging to see the same faces from the audience enjoying music in the classical room, then dancing in the big-band room.

This year’s Bash, which, as always, benefits Musicians’ Union Local 7’s emergency relief and scholarship funds, was a rousing success, musically and financially--approximately $14,000 was raised for those funds, a group spokesman said Monday.