S.F. Jazz Collective members, from left, Josh Roseman, Robert Hurst, Nicholas Payton, Joshua Redman, Brian Blade and Miguel Zenon made their Los Angeles debut at UCLA. (Tony Gieske photo)
March 30, 2004
SF Jazz Collective
By Tony Gieske
Bottom line: An unforgettable all-star frolic that made the works of free jazzman Ornette Coleman not only accessible but fun.
Royce Hall, UCLA, Westwood Saturday, March 27
The newly formed San Francisco Jazz Collective brought to town a bouquet of Ornette Coleman's best-known works for its Los Angeles debut, and you couldn't have asked for a richer and more satisfying offering.
Joshua Redman is the artistic director of the collective, and his father, Dewey Redman, toured and recorded with Ornette Coleman for seven years back in the late 1960s and early '70s. So the younger Redman, like his father a tenor saxophonist, has a special bond for the music.
But his six fellow collectivists showed a grasp of Coleman's once-revolutionary "harmelodic" concept that was no less profound than their leader's. Nicholas Payton, trumpet, brought soul and skill to "School Work," the fast-moving opening tune, and Miguel Zenon, alto and tenor saxophone, was equally brilliant on "Una Muy Bonita," a frolicsome outing on which you noticed what a magnificent rhythm section was driving things.
Renee Rosnes (piano), Robert Hurst (bass) and Brian Blade (drums) had the toughest job of the night in that they were required to intuit the "free jazz" asymmetries of the soloists, not to mention the formal fragmentation of the writing. Hurst and Blade equaled the powers of Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins along this line, and Rosnes managed to provide a harmonic structure despite the inherent dilemma left her by Coleman. He thought he was beyond the need for harmony and did not write any piano parts.
Hurst provided a soulful opening to "Lonely Woman," with arco doublestops that put you in mind of Pablo Casals; Redman built a solo toward a let-it-all-hang-out climax with less than his usual poise and aplomb.
Gil Goldstein wrote all the charts, which were transparent and deep. "Peace" showed off the ensemble chops of these solo geniuses. They made it probably a little more moving than the original.
The second half of the concert was devoted to commissioned works by the members of the collective, some of which were more successful than others, though they were all absorbing contemporary works, complex but not forbidding, and all jazz.
Vibraharpist Bobby Hutcherson wrote the long-winded "March Madness," whose comic ending got there none too soon. It gave trombonist Josh Roseman, a most inventive gentleman, a chance to get to the bottom of his deep improvisatory pockets. Redman's "Rise and Fall" had dead spots and bright spots. "Lingala," by Zenon, and "Of This Day's Journey," by Rosnes, came across as the most rewarding compositions. Rosnes' piano work on the latter was just a little short of astounding.
And the evening had more than a few moments in that category.
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