Lofgren’s Spirited Ensemble Soars at Monthly Airport Gig

There aren’t a lot of opportunities around town to hear big jazz bands in action. The economy in general may be cooking, but the menu doesn’t include much support for large ensembles.

Still, there are occasional performances by the large groups that continue to be close to the heart of many jazz fans. Among them, there is the monthly appearance by guitarist Bruce Lofgren’s jazz orchestra, After Burner, at the Typhoon Restaurant at the Santa Monica Airport, where the versatile 17-piece ensemble performs on the last Monday of every month.

This week’s set was a relaxed and spirited event. The ensemble was placed in front of a wall of windows looking out over the airport, and the mood had the congenial quality of a performance for a gathering of friends.

Lofgren is a first-rate arranger-orchestrator with a comfortable command of the many tonal possibilities of a large ensemble. He has further expanded those possibilities by using a six-piece rhythm section (guitar, bass, vibes, keyboard, drums and percussion); a saxophone section with expansive doubling potential; and a midrange brass section of two trombones and two French horns.

In a program consisting of such far-reaching material as Miles Davis’ “All Blues,” Lennon and McCartney’s “Michelle” and Vincent Youmans’ “Flying Down to Rio,” as well as a collection of his own bright-spirited originals, Lofgren came up with consistently colorful tonal combinations.

His blendings often crossed sections--combining, for example, Ron King’s fluegelhorn with Paul Klintworth’s French horn, Glen Garrett’s alto saxophone and Mark Hollingsworth’s flute. The results were fascinating, a marked contrast from the more typical big-band style of pitting the three primary horn sections against one another.

Although After Burner is primarily the product of his vision as an arranger, some excellent soloing was provided by King, Garrett, Lofgren, tenor saxophonist Glen Berger and drummer David Crigger. And, by the evening’s end, one could only wish that this entertaining ensemble was not limited to once-a-month appearances.

* The Bruce Lofgren jazz orchestra, After Burner. The last Monday of each month at Typhoon, 3221 Donald Douglas Loop South, Santa Monica Airport. (310) 390-6565. 9:30 p.m. No cover. Lofgren appears at the venue every other Monday night with his sextet, Wake Turbulence.