Kreative Orch. of LA at CryptoNight, Club Tropical, 1/29/04

Kreative Orchestra of Los Angeles, the all-star 12-piece collective led by drummer Harris Eisenstadt and saxophonist Jason Mears, played its third gig ever at CryptoNight at Club Tropical on 1/29, and it was something of an occasion.  A plentiful audience showed up, with almost as many improvising musicians as in the band itself, to hear this adventurous group traverse two sets of pieces ranging from mostly improvised to mostly composed/arranged.

The first set opened with a very open piece by Eisenstadt with relatively minimal composed framing of a series of solo and small combo improvisations, warming up the band with a healthy dose of free blowing.  Yet by the end of the set, the compositional structure was increasingly well-defined, with a swingy big-band pulse underpinning a smorgasbord of free improv, a little bit like Charles Mingus on mind-altering drugs.  In the middle were additional works by Mears and trumpeter Jeff Kaiser showing off different angles on the recombinant potential of this fairly sizable ensemble.

The second set launched into three highly written-out arrangements by bassist Steuart Liebig, who seems to be everywhere at once in the New Music scene, catapulting his challenging and episodic compositions into the ether.

Closing the evening was another Eisenstadt piece with a rousing groove and an explosive flourish to top it off.  One hopes this band will continue to find performance opportunities to continue its growth and provide outlets for the continuing flow of compositions from its various members.

Rounding out this fine group were:

* Saxophones: Cory Wright, Brian Walsh, Andrew Pask

* Trumpets: Kris Tiner, Bill Clark

* Trombones: Michael Vlatkovich, Dan Ostermann

* Electric Guitar: Noah Philips