‘Gabriel’ Blows Chance for a Tight Tribute

“Blow, Gabriel, Blow” at the University of Judaism’s Gindi Auditorium on Saturday night was described as “the story of three immortal trumpet players”--Louis Armstrong, Ziggy Elman and Mannie Klein. A more accurate title might have been “Blow, Gabriel, Blow and Sing, Herb, Sing,” since the vocals and narration of host Herb Jeffries were at least as prominent as the trumpet tributes.

Which wasn’t necessarily all that bad, since Jeffries--a veteran performer as both a singer and a film actor--still sounds in fine form, his mellifluous voice almost as impressive as it was in his early ‘40s hit rendering of “Flamingo.” And Jeffries deserves credit for managing to hold together a program that at times seemed headed into chaos.

If the 11-piece “All-Star Orchestra” led by clarinetist Abe Most had the opportunity to rehearse prior to the performance, it was not apparent in the concert itself, which was plagued by false starts, confusion about when to make tempo shifts, and how to end a piece together. Even so, the three trumpeters present--Al Aarons, Hershey Bell and Zeke Zarchy--did an impressive job saluting the jazz of Armstrong, the froelich of Elman and the klezmer of Klein. Aarons, in particular, managed to call up echoes of Armstrong without verging into imitative simulation.

It wasn’t clear, however, why so much disarray was present, particularly in tune after tune (especially with Jeffries’ vocals) in which there were no orchestrations, and the players simply improvised randomly behind whoever was taking the lead. The most organized passages, in fact, were a few klezmer numbers featuring the gifted Russian clarinetist Leo Chelyapov, whose strong soloing and effective leadership qualities brought some sense of musical order to the proceedings. It wasn’t surprising that the packed-house audience cheered each of his upfront appearances.

“Blow, Gabriel, Blow,” presented Sunday as well, will also take place Tuesday. By then, hopefully, the production will have had the opportunity to better organize and rehearse its intriguing premise.

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* “Blow, Gabriel, Blow” at Gindi Auditorium, University of Judaism, 15600 Mulholland Drive. Tuesday at 8 p.m. Preferred seating, $30; regular seating, $25. (310) 476-9777, Ext. 203.