Newport Millennium Show a Trot Through Jazz History

A 2 1/2-hour snapshot version of the history of jazz was on display at El Camino College’s Marsee Auditorium Saturday night when the Newport Jazz Millennium Celebration played the final event in a two-month national tour.

“Snapshot” because little effort was made to offer a linear stroll through the jazz century. Instead, an all-star ensemble, supplemented by the Nicholas Payton Quintet, simply bounced around from era to era, offering a bit of Duke Ellington here, a Louis Armstrong reference there, a salute to John Coltrane and a lot of bebop. The dominance of bebop was inevitable, of course, since it has been the central influence upon jazz for the past half-century. And, aside from Payton’s effective Armstrong simulation on “Wild Man Blues,” trombonist Joel Helleny’s plunger-muted, “Tricky Sam” Nanton-like solos and guitarist Howard Alden’s determined mainstream bent, most of the evening’s soloing took on a distinctly bebop character.

Which made it a bit surprising that the programming lacked any specific reference to Charlie Parker, who, after all, was the wellspring for most of the improvised soloing that took place. But there was no arguing with the range of instrumental combinations the program offered.

The three pieces by the Payton Quintet (with Tim Warfield, saxophones, Anthony Wonsey, piano, Sean Conley, bass, and Adonis Rose, drums) were a highlight, with Warfield’s soprano saxophone offering one of the evening’s rare efforts to open up the music into the new century, and Payton’s rendering of “Tenderly” a testament to his imaginative reach as a creative player.

A Cedar Walton solo tribute to Billy Strayhorn (“Lush Life” and “Daydream”) typified the veteran pianist’s ability to blend lush lyricism with a witty sense of humor, and Alden captured the essence of Django Reinhardt with his “Manoir des Mes Rieves.” Among the many other notable moments: Red Holloway’s tender interpretation of “You’ve Changed”; his combining with trumpeter Randy Brecker for heated romps through “Night in Tunisia” and “Mr. P.C.”; Alden and Helleny’s authentically Ellington-esque “Creole Rhapsody.”

Holding all the individual pieces together, the collective ensemble--firmly driven by the rhythm section of Conley, Rose and the alternating pianists, Wonsey and Walton--bookended the Newport jazz program with spirited versions of “Take the ‘A’ Train,” “Centerpiece” and “Cottontail,” featuring a classic tenor battle between Warfield and Holloway.