Maupin’s First-Rate Playing Deserves More Recognition

Bennie Maupin, even more than Rodney Dangerfield, has good reason to complainabout not getting enough respect. The multi-instrumental woodwind specialist, who opened a three-night run at the Club Brasserie in the Wyndham Bel Age Hotel on Thursday, has never quite received the visibility his talent clearly warrants.

It was Maupin’s bass clarinet playing, with its edgy, dark timbres, that helped provide the Miles Davis “Bitches Brew” sessions with their unusual ensemble sounds. And he continues to be one of the rare jazz artists who employ the instrument both regularly and effectively.

His late set on Thursday opened with what appeared at first to be random atmospheric sounds, gradually cycling his phrases into a mesmerizing, repetitive melodic phrase that eventually exploded into a free-floating improvisation. A fascinating musical exposition, to be sure, but what made it even more fascinating was Maupin’s ease with the varying timbral qualities of the instrument’s different registers. In his hands, it is a compelling jazz voice.

Maupin did not limit himself to the bass clarinet, however. On Mal Waldron’s lovely “Soul Eyes,” he picked up his tenor saxophone, playing it with a rich, warm sound paralleling his bass clarinet work. And his improvising, always thoughtful, always swinging, was reminiscent at times of the Sonny Rollins work of the early ‘60s, assembling fragments of melody into colorful musical mosaics.

The only problem with the set was a general sense of uncertainty in the ensemble work. Although Maupin’s band--David Arnay, piano; Alphonso Johnson, bass; Kenny Sara, drums; and Melena Francis, percussion--was first-rate, they seemed unfamiliar with most of the music. The resulting moments of uncertainty diminished the effectiveness of the set.

But not the effectiveness of Maupin, whose high-quality playing was the work of an artist in his prime--and one who deserves every bit of esteem and regard that he can get.

*

* The Benny Maupin Quintet at the Club Brasserie in the Wyndham Bel Age Hotel, 1020 N. San Vicente Blvd. Tonight, 45-minute sets from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. No cover, two drink minimum. (310) 854-1111.