Ellington Tunes Soar Anew

So many good things were happening at Cal State L.A.’s Luckman Theatre on Sunday that it was hard to understand why the auditorium was barely half-full. Far too few fans took the opportunity to hear members of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra in one of the finest programs of the year--an entertaining and musically provocative tour through the small-band music of Duke Ellington.

Titled “Rockin’ in Rhythm,” the program featured eight world-class musicians from the Lincoln Center ensemble, led by trumpeter Nicholas Payton, with guest artists Dianne Reeves on vocals and Joe Lovano on tenor saxophone. The music ranged through such well-known items as “Mood Indigo” and “In a Sentimental Mood” (which actually were not originally small-group numbers), less familiar tunes such as “You Dirty Dog” and “Tough Truckin’ ” and pieces by various Ellington sidemen.

But those were just the ingredients that went into the mix. What really made this such an appetizing musical feast was how it all came together. Using different instrumentation for almost every piece, the ensemble offered a constantly shifting range of textures. Some--”Poor Bubber” and “Downtown Uproar”--captured the early Ellington sound. Others, such as “Tough Truckin’ ” and “The Jeep Is Jumpin’,” served primarily as vehicles for extended soloing.

It was not, however, either a nostalgia program or an attempt to simulate Ellington. Soloists spoke with their own voices, from Ryan Kisor’s edgy contemporary approach to the wildly entertaining plunger mute trombone work of Wycliffe Gordon, from Wess “Warmdaddy” Anderson’s outer-limits saxophone work on “The Jeep Is Jumpin’ ” to Payton’s gorgeous rendering of “In a Sentimental Mood.” Add to that the marvelously subtle playing of the rhythm team of drummer Herlin Riley, bassist Rodney Whitaker and pianist Farid Barron, Lovano’s consistently swinging contributions and the stunning work of Reeves, especially in her revelatory interpretation of “Mood Indigo.”