Marsalis Orchestra Fires Up Old, New Dance Tunes

Jazz and dance have always been inextricably linked, and never more so than during the halcyon days of big band music, the period between the late ‘20s and the mid-’40s when both forms of expression intersected with popular music.

Wynton Marsalis’ Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, paying allegiance to the music of that period, showed up at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday night primed and ready to get the feet tapping and the house rocking, and they succeeded admirably.

Despite the relative youth of some of the members--the brilliant lead trumpeter Seneca Black’s 22nd birthday was acknowledged with a spontaneous jam version of “Happy Birthday”--the 15-piece ensemble is an extraordinarily versatile orchestra. Its program demanded, and received, a full range of stylistic musical skills. The selections, which included works from Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny Goodman and others, as well as newly composed originals by orchestra members, ranged from dance-focused numbers such as “9:20 Special” and “Jumpin’ at the Woodside” to such big band classics as “Take the ‘A’ Train” and “King Porter Stomp.”

Interestingly, many of the pieces were presented, in their opening choruses, with a rhythm-section approach characteristic of swing style, before moving into more contemporary grooves. And the soloing, showcasing virtually every member of the ensemble, also shifted between period and contemporary styles. Among the standouts: trombonist Ron Westray’s eclectic romps, the plunger mute work of trumpeter Ryan Kisor and trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, Ted Nash’s fluid alto saxophone and the classic tenor saxophone battle between Victor Goines and Walter Blanding Jr. on “Cottontail.”

For the packed house, the music was a memorable reference to a time when pop and jazz were virtually indistinguishable. But there were, nonetheless, a few things about the production that left something to be desired. The knowledgeable Marsalis, always quick to provide historical context and background for the music, had little to say about most of the pieces. He rarely (except in the case of original pieces by orchestra members) mentioned the names of the arrangers or composers of tunes. And, surprisingly, he omitted the quick historical overview (of the sort he does so well) that would have provided a bit of musical context for the program.

The inclusion of a group of athletic swing dancers was a good idea--a visual corollary to the music--that didn’t quite work out, largely because the apparently first-rate dancers were simply not visible to most of the audience. Performing on the same level as the orchestra seats, the dancers and their wild jitterbugging could barely be seen by any audience members except the lucky ticket holders in the elevated box seats.