Naptown Trombone Collective returns to Jazz Kitchen

A treasured album's cover, not much worse for wear

You don't have to be a trombone player except in fantasy to enjoy a trombone-heavy jazz band, especially if your record collection includes "Jay & Kai + 6." 

That's a Columbia LP from the 1950s with a marvelous cartoon by the great Arnold Roth on the cover and co-leader Kai Winding's name spelled two different ways, because "Kai" is not really pronounced "Kay," but publicists must have liked the rhyme cementing  the Danish trombonist's hit partnership with J.J. Johnson.

It was Johnson who of course was the greater innovator on the brass instrument in jazz, and it doesn't require being from his hometown of Indianapolis to proclaim this. But whether as a duo or in this record's assemblage, Winding was a simpatico partner in tandem with J.J., and an excellent arranger as well. 

At the Jazz Kitchen Sunday evening,  Naptown Trombone Collective paid tribute to the trailblazing trombonist who is widely credited for bringing the bebop language to his instrument. Johnson was celebrated for  unprecedented clarity of articulation and the sort of rapid pace and inventiveness that made the trombone a prominent voice in jazz from the mid-20th century on.

Genial host of the Collective's return visit, co-director Rich Dole got the one-set J.J.-oriented show started by explaining that the song title "Why Indianapolis? Why Not Indianapolis?" was Johnson's response to why he shifted his late career in the 1980s from Los Angeles back to his birthplace. 

Five trombones in the front line worked compatibly in the well-designed arrangements, with spots for soloing sometimes with ensemble accompaniment, that filled the program. In that first number, Dole centered his solo in his bass trombone's low register, succeeded by co-director Brian Pattison, who lofted his tenor trombone toward the higher end in his showcase.

Guest Phil Simms takes a breather, flanked by Collective members in action.

I liked the Collective's tribute to the aforementioned octet album with the playing of "No Moon at All," linked in a short medley to member Tommy Neidecker's arrangement of "Old Devil Moon," which featured a fine muted ensemble accompaniment to Chris Pitts' piano solo. 

The rest of the rhythm section acquitted itself well; Jesse Wittman's bass solo on guest trombonist Phil Simms' arrangement of "Groovin'" was about the most satisfying solo after the round-robin trombone solos that dominated the performance. And on the drums, Chelsea Hughey lent her usual reliable support with just enough flair throughout the program. 

The set closed the way the Collective ended its last Jazz Kitchen appearance, with Slide Hampton's charming arrangement of Johnson's "Say When." Hampton was the second-best jazz trombonist to come out of Indianapolis. His own playing had a remarkable mellowness of tone that perhaps is the summit of trombone charm. 

Still, I caught a lot of the fun out of the let's-tear-the-roof-off-the-sucker style exhibited in much of the Collective's work in this appearance. Neidecker's solo, somewhat in the clipped J.J. manner in the master's beloved ballad called "Lament," was a special treat, and Pattison's arrangement indicated this expert group doesn't always have to go hell-bent-for-leather, especially when it can nestle into a fine arrangement.