Problematic Pitch Mars Rusch’s Noble Experiment

Trumpeter Jerry Rusch turned up with a good idea Wednesday night at the Jazz Lobby in the Westin LAX Hotel: Combine his Miles Davis-influenced playing with a string quartet, bass and drums in an ensemble he’s named Zing. The possibilities ranged from the sounds of Charlie Parker’s classic recordings with strings to an unlimited number of more contemporary sounds.

For the most part, the arrangements turned out well, with the string quartet’s orchestrations making major leaps across styles, from Davis’ “Boplicity” to Eden Ahbez’s “Nature Boy.” Rusch even added his own vocal rendition of “My Funny Valentine.”

Somewhere between the intention and the delivery, however, something went wrong, probably a lack of rehearsal time or, perhaps, inadequate monitors for the players. Because, in virtually every piece, the string quartet was plagued by flawed pitch, often to a distracting degree. And, because many of the arrangements called for tightly voiced harmonies, the faulty intonation became even more distressingly apparent.

On the upside, there was some first-rate individual playing. Rusch’s soloing was solid and dependable, but the most intriguing offerings came from violinist Harry Scozzo and violist Dan Weinstein. Quickly setting aside any of the preconceptions of those string instruments as secondary in jazz, each delivered a series of solos filled with brisk bebop articulation and imaginative harmonic exploration.

So give Rusch an A for effort, for attempting to offer a musical presentation that varies considerably from the standard two horns and rhythm section format. He should definitely pursue expositions of the instrumentation but with, it is hoped, the sort of reproductive accuracy that fully displays the music at its best.