Guerrero Gets High Marks on His Rapport Card

The last time we saw Tony Guerrero was during his last-minute substitution for cornetist Bill Berry at Kikuya in November. There, Guerrero was among perfect strangers. But he rose to the occasion that night, meeting his newfound sidemen more than halfway in a program of standards that challenged his trumpet and fluegelhorn playing in unaccustomed style.

But Sunday, during his Christmas concert at Cafe Concerto, he was definitely back among friends. There were friends on the bandstand--most of the musicians were regulars from Guerrero’s touring ensemble--and friends in the audience who voiced loud approval at everything that was done.

It’s a good thing they were there. How’s that Beatles tune go? Something about getting by with a little help . . . ? Because help was needed. The band was ragged and far from its peak. The sound was uneven, filling the evening with whining feedback and barely amplified solos lost behind the over-amped rhythm section. Even Guerrero’s playing was uncharacteristically distant, minus the warm lyricism that makes his play attractive.

But none of it seemed to matter to the capacity crowd that packed the comfortable coffeehouse. Almost every note from the stage was greeted with whoops, cheers and strong applause. Guerrero’s special guests, though hardly the caliber of those who haunted Christmas concerts past, were given especially enthusiastic reception.

This year’s edition of Guerrero’s almost yearly affair (no concert was held in 1993) was scaled down from the 3 1/2-hour extravaganzas held at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano in ’91 and ’92. Clocking in at just over two hours (without figuring in the half-hour late start), this year’s edition welcomed only few guests to the bandstand, a decided change from past affairs when as many as 25 to 30 musicians would rotate duties on the stage.

Instead, the core group of Guerrero cronies worked the entire show. That gave it a flow that was missing from earlier concerts, which were repeatedly interrupted as the various participants set up or moved off stage. But like those bygone events, this one was decorated with fine individual efforts, albeit from a smaller number of participants.

Among them was Rippingtons saxophonist Jeff Kashiwa, recently returned from an extended tour with that band that included two weeks in Jakarta, Indonesia, as well as a stint in the Dominican Republic.

Kashiwa, who stuck mainly to soprano, added gutsy, R & B-styled tenor sounds to the more upbeat numbers and took a single turn on alto during his own smoothly conceived “Coastal Access” from a forthcoming solo album. But his best work was on flute during an arrangement of “The Little Drummer Boy.”

Guitarist Pat Kelly was another solid member of the proceedings, adding cool, electric tones from his Gibson on some tunes and tougher, more rock-oriented sounds from a second guitar on others. His wah-wah accompaniment during Guerrero’s “Bumpin’ ” was a high point.

Vince Guaraldi’s somber “Christmas Time Is Here” from the television special “A Charlie Brown Christmas” gave keyboardist Mark Zink a chance to show a more reflective side, and his improvisation on the melodic piece (not to be confused with the upbeat “Linus and Lucy” theme from the same special) was one of the evening’s most musical.

Though hurt by bad amplification at times, bassist Dave Enos showed plenty of snap and power, especially during the uptempo numbers. Drummer Tony Shogren, a regular with the Brazilian groups of bassist Octavio Bailly and singer Katia Moraes, varied the usual backbeat tempos with rhythmic variations that suggested samba and bossa nova beats during even the funkiest numbers.

Guest appearances from keyboardist-vocalist Jon Gibson and guitarist-composer Michael Martin gave the affair a needed change of pace. Country singer Kelly Rae’s rendition of Trisha Yearwood’s “Take a Walk Through Bethlehem” also made for a pleasant variation. And with Crissy Shumaker’s vocal on “Silent Night,” sung in both Spanish and English, the concert closed with a suitably seasonal touch.

Guerrero made the right choice in scaling down this Christmas concert and presenting it in a more intimate atmosphere (the owners of Cafe Concerto should consider presenting jazz on a regular basis; the room seems perfectly suited for it). So what if everything didn’t go as smoothly as it should have? Among family, you can do no wrong.