In Monterey Lineup, He Plays First Bass

One of the high points of next weekend’s Monterey Jazz Festival, America’s oldest and most highly regarded jazz event, has always been the presentation of new jazz compositions. In the early years, legendary artists such as Duke Ellington, Jon Hendricks, John Lewis, J.J. Johnson and Dave Brubeck debuted impressive, newly composed works.

After a hiatus in the middle period of the festival’s 41-year run, commissioned pieces once again became an important aspect of the three-day programs in the ‘90s. In recent years, works by Gerald Wilson, Billy Childs and Maria Schneider have been showcased.

This year’s composition commission has been given to bassist-composer Ray Drummond, a veteran, first-class jazz artist who has performed with everyone from Kenny Barron, Woody Shaw and Pharoah Sanders to Bobby Hutcherson, Hank Jones and Billy Higgins. And it’s particularly appropriate that Drummond, 51, has strong Monterey connections. A former area resident, he also is a veteran of the festival, both as a player (he made his first playing appearance in 1978 as the house bass player with the quartet of John Lewis, Mel Lewis and Mundell Lowe) and as a member of the audience.

“I started out as an usher in the ‘60s,” he recalls, “and I’ve been there pretty regularly ever since--for the last 25 years consecutively.”

He describes the still-untitled piece he has composed for the commission as a five-movement suite specifically tailored for a performance by his Excursions Band, a six-piece ensemble that includes tenor saxophonists David Sanchez and Craig Handy, pianist Mulgrew Miller, drummer Marvin “Smitty” Smith and percussionist Mor Thiam. The work is dedicated to a close friend, the late Robert Ellis, who began attending Monterey with Drummond and their wives in annual family outings dating back to the early ‘70s.

The five movements include, according to Drummond, “a Latin section, a ballad, a kind of Duke Ellington-type tune and a kind of ‘Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop’-type rhythm & blues.”

*

Drummond, whose work will premiere on the festival’s Sunday night program on the Jimmy Lyons Main Stage, will also serve as artist in residence. “I like that,” he says, “because I’ll have a chance to get close to the high school kids who will be there when Peter Erskine, Bobby Hutcherson and I work with the High School All-Star Jazz Band.”

The Sunday night climactic program also features the Pat Metheny Trio and the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine. Other Main Stage headliners over the three-day event include Paquito D’Rivera and the U.N. Orchestra, the Zawinul Syndicate, the Mingus Big Band, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dave Brubeck, Al Jarreau and a McCoy Tyner tribute to Hutcherson.

With the addition of a new venue, the Jazz Theatre, the festival grounds now encompass six locations for hearing and seeing jazz. And many of the weekend’s more intriguing events are provided by lesser-known names in the smaller sites. Among the dozens of participants, some of the most promising music can be expected from pianists Jessica Williams, Brad Mehldau and Kenny Werner; bassist Christian McBride; violinists Darol Anger and Johnny Frigo; the Rova Saxophone Quartet; the Tim Berne-Michael Formanek Duo; guitarist Joyce Cooling; and the swing sounds of Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers.

There will also be afternoon conversations with Hutcherson and Brubeck, panel discussions and appearances by jazz ensembles from Australia and Japan. Perhaps best of all, festival-goers who have purchased grounds admissions can share the performances in the separately ticketed and sold-out Jimmy Lyons stage via big-screen simulcasts in the Jazz Theatre.

*

* The Monterey Jazz Festival, next Friday-Sept. 20 at the Monterey Fairgrounds in Monterey. Grounds admission: $22 for all night Friday; $27 for all day and all night Saturday or Sunday; $65 for a three-day pass. Children 12 and under: $12 per day or $36 for a three-day pass. Tickets: (800) 307-3378.