Avant accessibility from Maupin

It’s hard to understand why multi-woodwind instrumentalist Bennie Maupin doesn’t have a higher visibility in the jazz world. Yes, he’s known for his gnarly bass clarinet playing on the Miles Davis “Bitches Brew” sessions, as well as his stunning work with the Herbie Hancock “Headhunters” ensemble. But with a limited catalog of recordings and relatively rare performances leading his own ensemble, Maupin is still, for many jazz fans, a relatively unknown quantity.

That’s unfortunate -- for Maupin as well as his listeners. On Sunday afternoon at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, he offered a program overflowing with reasons why he should be better known.

Start with Maupin’s ability to present complex music -- occasionally simmering with avant-garde qualities -- in a framework of easygoing accessibility. A piece such as the opening “Tapping Things,” for example, started with an atmospheric, mood-setting vamp, underscored by a collection of percussive scrapes, rattles and dings from drummers Munyungo Jackson and Michael Stephans.

Although the work was in 7/4 time, the off-center meter was virtually invisible, and the rhythm flowed with subtle, relaxed swing, powerfully driven by Darek Oles’ solid bass playing. But Maupin did not allow the warmly enveloping sounds to restrict his characteristic adventurousness, as he juxtaposed articulate bass clarinet melody lines against a bristling array of multiphonic sounds.

Other pieces were equally fascinating, as Maupin moved to alto saxophone, tenor saxophone and alto flute. Among the high points: “Penumbra,” with its atmospheric combination of sound and rhythm; “Trope on a Rope,” based on Maupin’s unique, jazz-based interpretation of a medieval musical practice; and a climactic drum duet that proved jazz drum solos need not be a combination of bash and slam.

Maupin described his music as “chamber jazz,” which it was, in the best sense of the word. And one can only hope that, whatever the label, it soon begins to find a wider audience.

The musical portion of Sunday’s Chamber Music in Historic Sites program was preceded by a fascinating set of musical film shorts dating back as far as the late 1920s, featuring Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, the remarkable Norman Thomas Quintet (from 1929) and others. Their presence on the bill was particularly appropriate, since the Egyptian was one of the first theaters to show talkies.