Jazz Review : Toshiko Akiyoshi Orchestra Revisits Joy of Ellington’s Sound

The Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra has had a remarkably long and successful run, given the fact that it is not a dance band and primarily serves as the expressive vehicle for the music of its leader. Obviously something has been working right, and with 18 albums released since 1974, it has been working well on a long-term basis.

A great deal--but not all--of those positive attributes were apparent in the orchestra’s appearance at the Japan America Theatre Monday night. The highlight of the performance was the Los Angeles premiere of Akiyoshi’s “Tribute to Duke Ellington,” commissioned by the Monterey Jazz Festival and performed there a day earlier.

To Akiyoshi’s credit, it was an authentic tribute, not a simulation or an imitation of Ellington. And, although the first two movements--dedicated, according to Akiyoshi, to early Ellington and to his memory--never quite came to life, the final movement was a joy to hear. Filled with exuberant, driving lines, enlivened by brilliant solos from featured artist (and husband of Akiyoshi) Lew Tabackin on tenor saxophone and Dave Pietrot on alto saxophone, it was, as intended, a spirited look at the impact of Ellington upon the future of jazz.

Most of the program’s second half was devoted to another multi-segment work, “Four Seasons of Morita Village,” composed in 1996. Here the mood was atmospheric, with some prerecorded segments of Japanese traditional instruments and chants interspersed with Akiyoshi’s multi-seasonal view of village life in a small northern Japanese village. Tabackin’s articulate flute solos, mixing shakuhachi-like sounds with surging jazz rhythms, helped to create a successful blend from the unlikely combination of Japanese tradition and American jazz.

The only flaw in the evening was the lethargic quality of the rhythm section, which rarely provided the kind of dynamic support needed for Akiyoshi’s spirited writing. Often, it was the trumpet section and the individual soloists--Pietrot, alto saxophonist Jim Snidero, baritone saxophonist Scott Robinson and trumpeter Brian Lynch, in particular--who provided the rhythmic propulsion. They deserved better accompaniment than they got.