JAZZ REVIEW : Wilson Delivers Sweet, Big-Band Goods

Maybe Gerald Wilson should be appointed Jazz Chairman of Los Angeles. Think of it: Somebody with his energy, enthusiasm and talent making things happen in a field that seems to need the kind of direction he does so well every time he steps on the bandstand. We could do a lot worse.

Tuesday night at Moonlight Tango in Sherman Oaks, Wilson--now 76 going on 29--celebrated the release of a new big-band album, “State Street Sweet” (MAMA Foundation Records), with the style and grace that have characterized his work since he formed his first band in 1944. Elegantly tailored, white hair gleaming, he looked perfectly placed in a room whose brightly mirrored walls, bustling waiters and spirited, overflow crowd could easily have served as the film set for an urbane ‘40s nightclub.

And, most important of all, he delivered the music. The Wilson ensemble, thankfully, is not a Rent-a-Band congregation--one of the same-faces-with-a-different-leader groups that often turn up for big-band appearances. There were on hand, to be sure, such well-known specialists as baritone saxophonist Jack Nimitz and trumpeters Chuck Findley, Tony Lujan, Ron Barrows and Oscar Brashear, among others. But there was also the gifted young alto saxophonist Randall Willis (from the B Sharp Quartet), Wilson’s son Anthony on guitar and other, less familiar, but no less accomplished players. Many have played with Wilson for years, and the long-term associations brought a rare sense of solidity to the music.

The result was a program of originals performed with a classic Wilsonian mixture of rhythmic power, harmonic sophistication and melodic affability. The band spotlighted one of his perennials, the stirring paean to bullfight music titled “Carlos,” this time with a two-trumpet tandem of Barrows and Brashear providing the passionate high notes. Miles Davis’ “Milestones” was briskly revived, as was an early blues chart for Basie and, from the new album, the funk-based “Lighthouse Blues.”

Typically, Wilson distributed solos freely, with especially telling work coming from Lujan, Willis, trombonist Thurman Green and tenor saxophonists Carl Randall and Louis Taylor.

Sadly, the Wilson band was only at the Moonlight Tango for a one-nighter. But the new CD is due in the stores this week, and the ensemble is scheduled to perform at the Playboy Jazz Festival in June.