Rogers Veterans Do Justice to Works of Late Bandleader

Though it took place a long time ago in a galaxy very, very near, the West Coast jazz movement of the 1950s bred fans every bit as rabid as those “Star Wars” worshipers who camped out to see the latest installment.

Judging from the comments heard Thursday at the Hyatt Newporter during the first full day of Jazz West Coast II, a four-day event, some of the nearly 400 attendees, just like the movie buffs, had skipped work to get there at 11 a.m. for the very first notes of the opening concert.

In the last of the morning haze, framed by an arbor of pink bougainvillea that wraps the Newporter’s outdoor amphitheater, a nine-piece band led by saxophonist Bill Perkins recreated the work of trumpeter Shorty Rogers. Rogers, who died in 1994, is universally recognized as the father of West Coast jazz, as emcee and Long Beach-based California Institute for the Preservation of Jazz director Ken Poston said during his introduction.

The morning concert, performed largely by veterans of Rogers’ Giants, set the perfect tone, defining the mood and musical devices of West Coast jazz for the four-day event. Tempered by tuba and French horn, Rogers’ sound proved warm as sand on a summer’s day, comfortable as a thick beach blanket.

With Rogers’ wife, Marge, in the audience, Perkins led the group through a number of Rogers’ best-loved numbers, including “Powder Puff” and “Martians Go Home.”

Despite a free and easy feel, the music can be challenging to play. Its sudden starts and stops and difficult harmonics made for some rough going at times during ensemble passages. At one point, Perkins noted the difficulty of observing Rogers’ shifting dynamics and making the sound “the way Shorty intended it.”

As Rogers also intended, the arrangements set up challenging solos from saxophonists Perkins and Herb Geller, trumpeter Ron Stout, trombonist Bob Enevoldsen and pianist Pete Jolly. All employed the lesson of the intervening years while keeping the smooth-bop feel of nearly a half-century ago.

The 74-year-old Perkins was the day’s Luke Skywalker, leading the Rogers show, playing in the Cy Touff Octet and then leading his own quartet at a poolside concert, then sitting in with arranger-saxophonist Jack Montrose’s ensemble back at the amphitheater.

Perkins’ sound was carefully crafted for each band, and he was especially soft-toned and mystical in the romantic set of mostly Jimmy Van Heusen material that he performed with pianist Lou Levy, bassist Jim Hughart and drummer Joe LaBarbera.

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The day’s most historic concert was the appearance of the Touff Octet, conducted by the former bass trumpeter whose 1954 Pacific Jazz recording of Johnny Mandel arrangements gained an instant reputation among musicians of the day.

Touff told how he’d found three arrangements in a drawer, then tore the house apart looking for others. The tunes were played in the same order as on the original album, and the impressive front line of trombonist Andy Martin, saxophonists Perkins and Med Flory, trumpeters Buddy Childers and Bill Berry proved on Tiny Kahn’s “T N T” and Mandel’s “Groover Wailin’ ” that West Coast music could be hot as well as cool.

In the late afternoon, tenor saxophonist Jack Montrose led a quintet in arrangements from his ‘50s heyday that he identified only by number. His originals reflected surprisingly modern touches and an embrace of music not necessarily laid-back.

Perkins generated exotic, Middle-Eastern touches on baritone sax during a strangely modal number. The standard “Deep Purple” showed Montrose to be an inventive, if not technically proficient, player.

Between concerts, a panel of musicians including Perkins, Touff, Montrose, saxophonist Bud Shank, pianist Russ Freeman and photographer Ray Avery discussed their relationship with Pacific Jazz, the record label that championed the West Coast sound. The chance to hear the surviving heroes of the movement talk about their music, and then to hear them play it made for a unique experience.

The day took on the feel of summer camp, as happy campers trundled off to different activities, not crawling into their bunks until well after taps.