Stylistic challenges mostly overcome in ‘Celebrar’

It was an intriguing idea -- combining the rich, lustrous voices of the Los Angeles Master Chorale with the instrumental prowess of some of the Southland’s finest Latin jazz musicians. And, in “Celebrar,” Tuesday at Walt Disney Concert Hall, it worked well, although not in precisely the fashion originally envisaged.

The first half of the program displayed the appealing aspects as well as the problems in the concept. Peruvian singer Eva Ayllon’s presence was a definite asset. Her warm, emotionally textured voice and buoyant rhythmic drive superbly enlivened the traditional “Campana Sobre Campana,” as well as a pair of songs by Spanish film composer Salvador Ruiz de Luna -- “Zumba Que Zumba” and “Apurate Nina.”

The 16-piece all-star ensemble showcased fine soloing from saxophonist Justo Almario and trumpeters Bobby Rodriguez and Harry Kim. And the Chorale sang the lovely harmonies of a set-closing group of carols (including “O, Come Emanuel” and Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”) with ear-embracing clarity.

Despite the excellence of these individual elements, however, they never quite blended into a unified entity -- not through any absence of musicality, but because of the ever-present hazards of combining acoustic and electronic sounds. The band’s five percussionists, for example, played in the middle of the ensemble, with no sound screens to contain their high-decibel volume.

More problematically, the rhythmic articulation of the instrumentalists and the Chorale -- despite conductor Grant Gershon’s valiant efforts -- failed to come into sync, with the singers generally lagging behind the propulsive flow of the musicians.

The second half of the evening generally avoided the problem by largely featuring the instrumentalists and the singers in their own spotlight positions. Add to that the presence of percussionist Sheila E., who brought vigor and excitement to the proceedings, stimulating the musicians and singers and bringing the crowd to its feet.

Starting with Rodriguez’s sparkling band arrangement of “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” resting peacefully with the Chorale’s rendering of Schubert’s “Ave Maria,” and climaxing with a joyous romp through “Jingle Bells,” the program’s closing set moved past the hazards of sound reproduction and stylistic differences into shared, if individual, visions of the joys of musical celebration.