Large-Ensemble Locomotives on Right Track

Any reasonably inclusive overview of jazz in the late ‘90s has to embrace an astounding number of differing perspectives. Among them: Jazz is no longer strictly a domestic art form, its very definitions are in a constant state of flux, and it persists in finding new vitality in virtually every stage of its stylistic history.

Consider a pair of big-band recordings among the new releases. “Big Train” (***, Columbia), from Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, is the fourth album in the unprecedented eight Marsalis CDs scheduled for release this year. Richly impacted by Duke Ellington, it is a 12-movement, programmatic composition describing the sounds and images of train travel, one of the most recurrent images in early jazz. Marsalis envisions the work as a trip from west to east, with the early segments reflecting the wide-open western landscape via frequent, stretched-out soloing. As the train (and the program) approach the more dense areas of the east, the pieces become less solo-oriented, and more compositionally structured. It’s an imaginative approach, and Marsalis deserves credit for touching upon every imaginable musical train metaphor and adding a few of his own (from the rolling boogie feel of “Smokestack Shuffle” to the unexpected 5/4 rhythms of “Northbound-Southbound”). The soloing is first-rate (as it always is with the Lincoln Center orchestra), with particularly fine work from Marsalis, baritone saxophonist Joe Temperley, pianist Eric Reed and--on his feature number, “Engine”--drummer Herlin Riley.

“Swingin’ the Blues” (***, Azica) by Doc Severinsen and His Big Band focuses, for the most part, on the blues via new renderings of such tunes as “C Jam Blues,” “The Hucklebuck,” “All Blues” and “West End Blues.” The Severinsen ensemble also does a train-inspired piece, Ellington’s “Happy Go Lucky Local.” As with the Lincoln Center ensemble, the arrangements and playing are inspired by an earlier era, in this case, the big-band style of the ‘50s, a style familiar to anyone who heard Severinsen’s ensembles on the Johnny Carson “Tonight” show. (Many of those players and arrangers are included here.) And the work is performed with the professionalism and enthusiasm of musicians whose time in studios has not diminished their creative energies. There is, in addition, splendid soloing from the too often underrated Severinsen, drummer Ed Shaughnessy, tenor saxophonist Doug Webb, trumpeter Conte Candoli and vocalist Barbara Morrison, with fine arrangements from, among others, Bill Holman, John Bambridge and Tommy Newsom.

In a far different area of the musical spectrum, the band Dissidenten has been producing a radicalized combination of jazz, world music, rock and anything else that can be tossed into a truly global melting pot. On “Live in Europe” (***, Blue Jackel), Dissidenten, performing with a variety of guest artists, including veteran jazz saxophonist Charlie Mariano, uncovers surprisingly powerful connections between musical modalities. The pieces drift between funk-style fusion with vocals, Indian- and Middle Eastern-tinged numbers and, in “Jungle Book,” some passionate soloing by Mariano.

In yet another direction, there is a new album from Charlie Haden and Quartet West, “The Art of the Song” (***, Verve). A more accurate title might have been “Art of the Ballad,” since virtually the entire recording is performed at a languid pace, its relatively static qualities underscored by pianist-arranger Alan Broadbent’s voluptuous orchestral settings. The choice of songs (“Lonely Town,” “In Love In Vain,” “Why Did I Choose You”) is superb, and singers Shirley Horn and Bill Henderson each contribute four gorgeous performances. But the unrelentingly late-night mood would have benefited from at least one or two more energized numbers.

Finally, there is the often attempted, always elusive connection between jazz and rock. For nearly two years, Jazz Is Dead has been exploring the music of the Grateful Dead, based on the somewhat shaky premise that, since the Dead were one of the great improvising rock bands, they were inevitably associated with jazz. Their latest album, “Laughing Water” (** 1/2, Zebra), is an interpretation of the Grateful Dead’s 1973 classic “Wake of the Flood.” But, rather than establish the jazz-rock association, it further emphasizes the uniqueness of the Dead’s improvisational approach. And the album is most successful when guitarist Jimmy Herring steps forward to acknowledge that uniqueness by producing some effective variations on the Jerry Garcia style.*

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four stars (excellent).