Jazz Review : Keeping the Vibe Alive : Vibraphonist Terry Gibbs Honors Benny Goodman as the 3-Day West Coast Party Ends on a High Note

Vibraphonist Terry Gibbs proved the main attraction during the closing night of the three-day West Coast Jazz Party at the Irvine Marriott hotel. The 74-year-old Gibbs opened the evening in a sextet jam session with clarinetist Ken Peplowski that paid tribute to Benny Goodman, then returned to close the evening in grand style with his 16-piece Dream Band.

That closing set, marking the 40-year anniversary of the band that created a minor sensation along Hollywood’s Sunset Boulevard in 1959, did as much as any of the previous sets to typify the mood of this mainstream music festival with its memories, much horsing around (most of it in banter between Gibbs and alto saxophonist Med Flory) and occasional standout play from Gibbs, trumpeter Carl Saunders, saxophonist Pete Christlieb, pianist Lou Levy and Flory. If at times the music was as slapdash as the between-tune wisecracks, no one seemed to mind. After all, this was a party, wasn’t it?

Gibbs and company revisited arrangements from Marty Paich, Bill Holman Al Cohn and others dating to the band’s first years, bringing both the spirit of bebop and big band swing to each piece. Gibbs himself was a whirlwind of energy, encouraging the band as they played, introducing the numbers and performing with speed and finesse.

The arrangements of such tunes as “Opus One,” “Softly as in a Morning Sunrise” and “Tico Tico” carried the weight of their years, sounding a bit mundane and straightforward as opposed to, say, arranger Holman’s current work. But such nostalgia was perfect for the audience of 500 that packed the hotel’s main ballroom. A surprising exception was Cohn’s arrangement of Duke Ellington’s old “Cottontail,” which opened with a brassy fanfare and moved ahead at a blistering tempo.

Near the close of the set, Gibbs brought out fellow vibraphonist Peter Appleyard to exchange lines as they sought to out-muscle each other in front of the vibraphone. While entertaining in a visual and comic way, the music lacked the improvisational passion Gibbs brought to other numbers.

At the beginning of the musical marathon, Gibbs and clarinetist Peplowski prepped the audience with Goodman’s “Seven Comes Eleven” and “Airmail Special” with a group that included pianist Gerald Wiggins (a standout throughout the event), bassist John Leitham, guitarist Dan Faehnle and drummer Butch Miles. Gibbs took his time warming up in the set but found his mark during a lyrical solo on “Autumn Leaves.”

Saxophonist Harry Allen explored bossa nova (as he does on a new RCA recording “I Won’t Dance”) during a set with flutist Holly Hofmann, guitarist Faehnle and drummer Jeff Hamilton’s trio. Allen’s soft pedaling sound recalled the Brazilian period of Stan Getz, both in form and function. Hofmann’s rich sound added needed depth to the performances.

Kristin Korb sang in sweet tones while accompanying herself on bass, then was joined by a group that featured pianist Kenny Drew Jr. (son of bebop piano legend Kenny Drew). Drew’s beautifully dense play on “East of the Sun (West of the Moon)” and his Thelonious Monk-inspired introduction to “Sweet Georgia Brown” were some of the evening’s most ambitious moments.

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Drummer Hamilton’s trio with pianist Larry Fuller and bassist Lynn Seaton gave the evening’s most professional set, demonstrating the value of including a few working bands in the overall schedule of jam and more jams. Hamilton’s use of brushes on his drums was particularly impressive, and his hands-only solo on an Jamaican-styled original in which he played without sticks emphasized his feel for touch and timbre.

As if to underscore the success of this year’s festival, co-founder Joe Rothman announced the sixth annual West Coast Jazz Party to be held Labor Day weekend 2000. Somehow the mainstream just keeps flowing along.