The sounds of ‘Our Times’

The first sounds emanating from the stage at the Cerritos Center on Wednesday easily could have been mistaken for the soundtrack of a ‘50s science fiction movie. Bloops, bleeps, whirs and thumps suggested the imminent arrival of Dr. Morbius and the cast of “Forbidden Planet.”

But it was Herbie Hancock who was producing most of the atmospheric clatter -- from a laptop computer -- aided by saxophonist Michael Brecker, trumpeter Roy Hargrove, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Terri Lyne Carrington. What wasn’t clear was why these sounds were opening a concert titled “Directions in Music: Our Times” featuring some of contemporary jazz’s finest practitioners.

Fortunately, cult science fiction associations were soon dissipated by a collection of music more accurately fulfilling the promise of “Our Times.” Familiar songs such as Hancock’s “Dolphin Dance” and “Pinocchio” were deconstructed to a point where their original identities virtually disappeared. New originals by Hargrove and Brecker apparently were treated in similar fashion.

Unlike a previous “Directions in Music” partnership among Hancock, Brecker and Hargrove, in which the perspective focused on Miles Davis and John Coltrane, this joining seemed intended to open the creative floodgates in every possible alternative direction: Hancock’s Space Age laptop music, envelope-stretching soloing, spontaneous ensemble interaction and a set piece by Brecker in which he simulated an entire synthesizer ensemble.

The result was a program that ebbed and flowed. Melodically suspended ensemble passages alternated with soloing and various instrumental combinations. Occasionally, Hancock turned to his laptop to produce yet another set of electronic beeps.

Despite all the shifting musical coloration, it was the individual efforts that gave the evening its most persuasive creative moments. Brecker was a particularly strong soloist, his improvisations possessing that rarest of qualities: the capacity to engage the listener at every step along the way. Hargrove started strongly, but his intensity dissipated throughout the night, revived somewhat during an electronically oriented number.

Hancock played -- as he sometimes chooses to do -- from a compositional perspective, inventively structuring as he moved through fast-fingered displays and crushingly dense chordal clusters. Colley and Carrington provided solid rhythm and fascinating solos. All of which made for a welcome departure from that opening journey to the orbit of “Forbidden Planet.”