Brubeck Greets Surprise Guests

Dave Brubeck finally made it into town with his quartet--most of it, that is.

In September, when the other players in his group became mired in the airline delays after the events of Sept. 11, he performed at Pepperdine with a pickup ensemble. On Monday night at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, Brubeck’s personnel was again short a regular member; bassist Michael Moore was called away by a family emergency.

Fortunately, a fine substitute was available, one who is thoroughly familiar with the music: Brubeck’s son Chris. And, because the younger Brubeck plays bass and trombone, the set was actually enhanced on one of the numbers by the added horn.

The performance included an additional augmentation unannounced in advance, for contractual reasons, by the center: the presence of the Russian National Orchestra. Brubeck and the orchestra have performed together on a number of occasions, and the familiarity was obvious, especially in the well-integrated fashion in which the Russians, conducted by Russell Gloyd, accompanied such traditional quartet numbers as “Blue Rondo a la Turk” and the classic “Take Five.”

The work of this particular Brubeck group is enhanced by the presence of alto saxophonist Bobby Militello, the stylistic opposite of Brubeck’s longtime companion, the late Paul Desmond.

Unlike the latter’s cool, floating style, Militello hits hard, his brawny sound and fleet-fingered lines a direct descendant of Charlie Parker-through-Phil Woods. On “Take Five,” for example, he charged through a solo that whipped in and out of the 5/4 meter, handling its offbeat rhythms with consummate ease. And on a final romp through “Take the ‘A’ Train,” Militello played with such an explosive rhythmic drive that even the relatively staid members of the orchestra were tapping their feet and nodding their heads appreciatively.

Brubeck’s pianistic offerings were somewhat more modest. Seemingly drawn toward earlier styles these days, he frequently moved from his familiar, bombastic chording into piquant stride piano passages. More compelling were his compositional contributions, especially a touching work for strings and piano titled “Regret,” filled with flowing harmonies reminiscent in its subtle simplicity, if not its form, of Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings.

The Russian National Orchestra, opening the bill under the baton of Carlo Ponti Jr., offered a briskly spirited rendering of Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio Italien and a pops concert-style arrangement of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” featuring trumpeter Timofei Dokshitzer.