Active big bands have been a rarity in jazz circles for decades, but the Nashville Jazz Orchestra remains one of the few in the nation dedicated to something beyond just nostalgia. Their Friday night performance at the Blair School of Music displayed all their virtues. These include inspired solos and smartly updated arrangements of familiar material juxtaposed with strong performances of original compositions. Friday’s concert was also enhanced by superb contributions from Grammy-winning guest saxophonist, arranger and composer Bob Mintzer.
Mintzer’s an interesting personality within the jazz world. He’s been part of The YellowJackets, an enduring and acclaimed fusion ensemble, for more than three decades. Yet he’s also thoroughly connected to the swing/big band style, having led large groups as well as writing and arranging tunes for them. His two sets with the NJO reflected that wide mix of influences. Half the numbers were Mintzer works. The others ranged from intense renditions of classic numbers by Wayne Shorter (“Footprints”) and Freddie Hubbard (“Arietis”) to Great American Songbook anthems by Harold Arlen (“My Shining Hour”) and the duo of Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin (“Easy Living”).
Mintzer’s tenor sax playing is equally varied. He demonstrated his proficiency with the blues on “Swanglong,” then showed a mellow side on the poignant ballad “My Soliloquy,” (both Mintzer tunes), which also had an excellent flugelhorn solo from George Tidwell. NJO pianist Joe Davidian had one of his finest solos on “My Soliloquy,” coming in midway with a swirling flourish and providing keyboard grit and flurries during his fine segment. Mintzer delivered robust, emphatic performances on both the melody and inventive improvisations off it during “Footprints,” the tune that concluded the NJO’s first set.
NJO music director Jim Williamson was featured soloist on Hubbard’s “Arietis,” which opened the second set. He was assertive and intense on trumpet and flugelhorn, using the former to appropriately open and close the tune, and the latter to enhance the song’s transition and bridge portions with invigorating lines and solid phrases. Trombonists Roy Agee and Barry Green also had standout solos in the second set. Green included flashy “tailgate” effects and other Crescent City influences during “March Majestic” a piece Mintzer wrote in tribute to The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, while Agee and Mintzer, plus special guest Evan Cobb, were outstanding on “My Shining Hour.”
After turning sentimental once more with an evocative series of statements on “Easy Living,” Mintzer and the NJO’s final numbers were spirited romps. Both “Alia” and “Run For Your Life,” as well a closing encore tune accented the “hot” end of the big band equation. Trumpeter Douglas Mosher, a former Mintzer student at USC, added upper register fireworks to “Run For Your Life,” and the entire band’s fiery exchanges, punctuating Mintzer’s robust solos and energetic direction, earned multiple standing ovations as they wrapped an entertaining show that neatly balanced old and new fare.
Jazz’s future locally was unveiled in a strong opening set from the Hume-Fogg High School Silver Jazz Band. Their music director Dr. Richard Ripani revealed that the band was one of just 12 in the country chosen to appear in a competitive audition-only festival in Savannah, Ga. next month. In fact two of their selections, Bobby Watson’s “Conversation” and Wycliffe Gordon’s “Grease Bucket” were part of the program that earned them the invitation. Their rigorous execution of both tunes showed a superior knowledge of jazz fundamentals.
Watson’s “Conversation” combined a challenging structure with multiple solo parts for saxes, vibes and guitar. Gordon’s “Grease Bucket” balanced a funky rhythm with segments within the arrangement that called for rapid instrumental substitutions and intricate exchanges. The band handled all this with ease. They displayed disciplined approaches to demanding arrangements and engaging solo moments, even though the soloists are still finding and shaping personalities and approaches.
Vocalists Myles Oliver (“Teach Me Tonight”) and Alea Tveit (“Straighten Up and Fly Right”) deftly handled vintage songs with interpretations that belied their ages. While they are in the learning curve in terms of things that come only with polish and experience, both delivered credible renditions. Just the fact you’ve got high schoolers even willing to try those tunes in 2012 is something to celebrate, let alone that they did them respectably well.
Mintzer joined them for their last number, “Sweet Georgia Brown,” and gave another impressive, if less flashy solo. He was quite encouraging and congratulatory, calling the band among the best he’s seen at that age, and urging applause for various soloists.
Indeed, both the Hunme-Fogg High School Silver Jazz Band and Nashville Jazz Orchestra showed Music City has first-rate talents of all ages in this great art form, and that fans of the music will have things to celebrate for years to come.
