JAZZ REVIEW : Some Assembly Required for McIntosh Show

HUNTINGTON BEACH —  Ladd McIntosh leads a traditional modern jazz big band . . . sort of.

During the opening set Wednesday at El Matador by the composer-arranger’s 18-member ensemble, listeners heard moments of almost all jazz-related genres--including swing, funk, bossa nova, Latin, gospel, free-form and be-bop.

In the tradition of Thad Jones, McIntosh gathered these varied elements and assembled them together in wonderfully complementary ways, like an Abstract Expressionist painter who loves the uplifting clash of orange placed next to green.

Take the leader’s version of Duke Pearson’s “Jeannine,” which was recorded in the late ‘50s by such artists as alto sax giant Cannonball Adderley, but which many people today may recognize from the Manhattan Transfer’s version.

The medium-tempo opus, using a 32-bar form, began simply enough, trombones punching out the first part of the snappy melody. Then the saxes added a flowing be-bop-style passage that completed the initial section, and the full ensemble handled the subsequent, contrasting bridge.

Trombonist Charley Merilis’s solo--a fluid-note, round-sound outing--led to an expansive improvisation from fellow bone-man Eric Jorgensen. Jorgensen unleashed his bold, weighty tone on long, descending smears, sharply cut-off rhythmic ideas and notes that seemed to shimmer--some of these thoughts accompanied by dense, colorful brass.

Then McIntosh’s arrangement really took off. Bits of the melody were followed by ensemble figures that seemed to hang in the air while bassist Randy Landis and drummer Rod Harbour kept up the driving tempo. An extended, three-note statement from muted brass and flutes demurely ended this appealing chart.

The leader’s funk original, “Swami Ladd’s K-A Wontons,” was equally dynamic. Trumpets, trombones and saxes took turns at the brief melody, which was answered by a rousing, three-note ascending growl from the low brass and the baritone sax. This same figure, separated and vigorously attack by the ensemble, later closed the piece.

Other high points in McIntosh’s vitalizing program were the slow, pensive “Moonrise”--an attractive vehicle for the hearty-toned tenor sax of Jim Snodgrass--and “The Fugu Express,” in which Kurt McGettrick took his baritone sax to tonal heights usually reserved for a lead trumpeter.