Namesake Big Band Continues Basie Tradition--and Doesn’t

Fifteen years after Count Basie’s death, the big band that bears his name continues to sustain his legacy of hard-swinging, large ensemble jazz. On Sunday night at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, the current edition of the Count Basie Orchestra, now directed by trombonist Grover Mitchell, managed to stir up memories of the original while speaking with its own collective sound.

Although there was effective soloing from, among others, trumpeter William “Scotty” Barnhart and tenor saxophonist Kenny Hing, this is not a band with the world-class soloists present in most of the Basie units. But it is a band that plays with a striking degree of togetherness.

In piece after piece, the full ensemble choruses--the passages in which all three sections moved together in harmony--were rendered with the drive and the swing of a small group. The effect was electrifying, especially so when the segments were filled, as they often were, with fast-note phrases that suddenly broke out into driving, “shout” choruses.

A number of the pieces--”Burnin’,” “Blues on Top” and “Drum Thing”--came from the band’s latest album, “Swing Shift” (MAMA Records). And the arrangements, mostly by Bob Ojeda (who also played in the trumpet section) and Allyn Ferguson, celebrated the Basie tradition in a contemporary dialect.

But it was a little hard to understand why there was such a paucity of original Basie specials (the principal exception was a galvanized version of “Every Day” with singer Ernie Andrews). Granted the desire to minimize the “ghost” aspects of the band, a few of the Basie hits would at least have provided some attractive musical context.

Andrews’ set also included an effective--if a bit too truncated--medley of Duke Ellington tunes, sung in the big-voiced, blues-inflected style that has been his stock in trade. He was followed, in the second half of the program, by singer Barbara Morrison. Ranging across a set that included several blues numbers, a sensitive interpretation of “I’ve Grown Accustomed to His Face” and a hard-romping “Things Ain’t What They Used to Be,” Morrison’s versatility was impressive, the work of an experienced, musically intelligent vocal artist.