Severinsen swings with Pops

03.30.09
Doc Severinsen & El Ritmo de la Vida
Cincinnati Enquirer

Doc Severinsen retired to Mexico and found “The Rhythm of Life,” but after Sunday night’s show with the Pops, it seems he also found the fountain of youth. Severinsen, 81-year-old former “Tonight Show” bandleader, pops maestro and Grammy-winning trumpeter, introduced his new band, “El Ritmo de la Vida,” in a sizzling evening of Latin rhythms and a fusion of Spanish, flamenco and gypsy jazz.

If the audience at Music Hall was the most wildly enthusiastic in recent memory for the Pops, no one appeared to be having more fun than Severinsen. The musicians he discovered playing in a café in San Miguel de Allende took their places in front of the orchestra, and then Severinsen strode out in full regalia – lime green leather pants, sparkly jacket and electric shirt – and gave the downbeat for the orchestra. Severinsen was a one-man machine all evening, as he alternately conducted and joined the band, bantering, hooting and prancing as he introduced numbers, and then playing like a god as he improvised his way up to the high notes.

It’s easy to see why Severinsen was impressed by the virtuosity of his new-found colleagues, Gil Gutierrez on guitar and Pedro Cartas on violin. They channeled jazz greats Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli in “Minor Swing,” with rhythmic drive and spectacular improvisations. Cartas, who trained in Cuba as a violin prodigy, produced varied colors and effects, a true artist whether playing a simple Latin love tune on his amplified acoustic violin (Tomas Mendez’s “Cucurrucucu”) or adding fireworks to Chick Corea’s “La Fiesta.”

Gutierrez impressed with dazzling technique and the ability to color a phrase with inventiveness and genuine soul, whether playing classical Spanish guitar-style, gypsy or fiery flamenco.

Reinhardt’s “Nuages” (Clouds) was masterfully played; the group also performed a piece Gutierrez wrote for his children, “Irene y Diego.”

Completing the band, Gilberto Gonzalez on bass and percussionist Miguel Favero were also fine. Favero added heat on a battery of bongos and a “cajon” and was mesmerizing in his own improvised solos. One of the evening’s many electric effects happened when he strolled over to the guitarist and “drummed” on his strings while Gutierrez fingered the chords.

Severinsen was icing on the cake in this music, whether embellishing a phrase, playing showstopping cadenzas or taking a mellow turn at a solo. He changed into hot pink leather for the show’s second half.

The evening’s most breathtaking number was “Granada,” in an arrangement the trumpeter says he “stole” from Placido Domingo, which brought out the Pops percussion section to share the stage.

Perhaps because his show is so new, Severinsen has not yet found the best arrangements for “El Ritmo de la Vida” with orchestra. The balance was poor, and I rarely heard the Pops strings or even the brass. If he takes this show on the road, Severinsen might consider recruiting the Pops’ Steven Reineke, who took a turn on the podium, for some top-notch arrangements.