Brookmeyer Excels on Valve Trombone

The jazz trombone made a rare, upfront appearance at the Jazz Bakery Monday night in the hands of the even more infrequently seen Bobby Brookmeyer. It was a pleasure to see and hear both.

Brookmeyer specializes in the valve trombone, a kind of trombone-trumpet hybrid that has only had any kind of significant previous visibility in jazz via the playing of Juan Tizol. Its primary virtue is a capacity to quickly articulate notes by pushing valves rather than moving a slide back and forth. The penalty is the loss of the eloquent pitch permutations that a slide can provide.

But Brookmeyer’s playing is so oriented toward long, briskly moving lines and catchy riffing, all executed with an inexorable sense of swing, that the valve trombone seems the perfect instrument for his creative style.

Working with a local rhythm section of Larry Koonse on guitar, Darek Oles on bass and Mike Stephens on drums, Brookmeyer, who lives in New Hampshire, stuck with a program of standards: “It’s You or No One,” “I Hear a Rhapsody,” “Time on My Hands.” With the exception of a rapid-fire romp through “Yesterdays,” most were performed at similar mid-tempos. But Brookmeyer’s loose, driving rhythms alternated with occasional bits of musical whimsy--tossing dissonant melodic fragments in the middle of a theme statement--to bring a rich pacing to the music.

*

He was also aided by Koonse’s responsive guitar playing, which exchanged phrases with Brookmeyer in a fashion reminiscent of the trombonist’s classic work with Gerry Mulligan. Oles was, as always, a solid rock of rhythm. And Stephens’ skillful use of cymbal timbres added a semi-compositional touch to what was, after all, a pickup ensemble.

Speaking of rarity, Brookmeyer turned to the piano for an impressionistic rendering of “I Can’t Get Started.” It was, he said, the first time in many years that he had played the piano (his original instrument) in public. He should do it more often.

The only problem in an otherwise attractive evening of music was Brookmeyer’s insistence upon shoving the bell of his trombone over the microphone, producing a muffled, colorless sound that seriously restricted his expressive range. Given the acoustics of the Bakery, it was not a wise idea and he hopefully has now been advised to bring his horn out into the open.

* The Bob Brookmeyer Quartet at the Jazz Bakery through tonight, 3233 Helms Ave. (310) 271-9039. $15 admission. Brookmeyer performs at 8:30.