Mancini Show’s Solo a Second-Half Success

There were two distinct halves to the performance by the Henry Mancini Institute Big Band on Friday night at Royce Hall.

The first was dedicated to the briskly swinging compositions written by Neal Hefti for the Count Basie band. The list of tunes included such now-classic items as “The Kid From Red Bank,” “Lil’ Darlin’, “ “Splanky” and “Whirly Bird.”

This is music that, despite its engaging melodies and accessible rhythms, is effective only when performed with great finesse and precision. To the credit of the Big Band’s relatively youthful players, the ensemble passages were delivered with clarity, accuracy and--most of the time--a delightful rhythmic buoyancy. What was largely missing was a set of solo performances equivalent to the high level of the collective playing. Tenor saxophonist Jeff Elwood was the exception, offering chorus after chorus of captivating improvisations.

It was not until the program’s second half and the arrival of veteran trumpeter Randy Brecker that the quality of solo invention rose to world-class level. Although Brecker has been a busy, much-praised jazz artist since the late ‘60s, his tenor saxophone-playing brother, Michael Brecker, has generally received greater attention. But trumpeter Brecker’s fluid, articulate soloing in a diverse set of material ranging from Herbie Hancock’s “One Finger Snap” to Michael Abene’s beautifully textured “Goodbye Again” provided potent evidence of the evenness with which the talent has been distributed in the Brecker family.

There were two other aspects of the program worth noting--both underscoring questions regarding the current mission of the Mancini Institute, now that founder Jack Elliott has died.

The first was a tendency--also present in other programs--to showcase faculty members, and/or their works, rather than the young professional players. In this concert, it was the too-constant presence of leader Justin DiCioccio, who spent an inordinate amount of time talking between numbers, leading the band with distracting physical gyrations, and having so much difficulty setting the tempo for numbers that the audience began clapping in rhythm before the music started. As a result, he failed in the fundamental task of allowing--in a supportive but transparent fashion--his players to take possession of the spotlight.

The second question had to do with the makeup of the band. The Institute prides itself on the fact that its participants come from 15 countries and 50 U.S. cities. Given that diversity, one could only wonder what sort of audition process could possibly have produced an HMI Big Band that did not include a single African American, and only one female player.