Tapestry with Iberian edge

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra welds angular riffs, Ellingtonian opulence and rhythmic panache into a multi-layered tapestry of orchestral modern jazz. For this Barbican gig the JLCO added a Spanish dimension, with selected movements of a 12-part suite commissioned from musical director Wynton Marsalis (pictured) by the Vitoria jazz festival and a guest appearance by founder of “new flamenco”, the Cádiz-born pianist Chano Domínguez.

Avoiding pastiche, trumpeter Marsalis merged the pre-composed inflections and bittersweet sensibilities of Spanish music with a rich canon. The performance confirmed him in the tradition of great modernist jazz composers.

Picture by Akin/Livepix

Themes bounced from solitary trumpet to saxophone choir, brass and reeds riffed harmoniously and collided in dissonance and there was a welter of one-off details – a scamper of clarinets, a muted trumpet fanfare, four bars of gradually decelerating double bass – to spice the audience’s palate.

The JLCO’s musicians combine orchestral blend and stylistic contrast. The opening “Iñaki’s Decision” built tensions and release, a late-night blues followed, and there was the plangent cry of a solea before Dan Nimmer finally introduced the churning rhythms of “The Tree of Freedom” with lovely flamenco-inflected, solo jazz piano.

The orchestra’s grasp of Iberian authenticity was confirmed by the second-half appearance of Domínguez. Like Marsalis he is fascinated by the meeting points of jazz and Iberian music. He was programmed to wrap up the evening with his through-composition “De Cadi a New Orleans” but was given a surprise call for the fast-swinging opener, and invited to share a piano and trade choruses with Nimmer.

The robust honours-even joust set up a more relaxed second half. The many highs were capped by the whispered ending of Joe Temperley’s bass clarinet reading of Duke Ellington’s “The Single Petal of a Rose”. Domínguez’s finale provided compositional contrast – less detail and a broader Spanish influence – and a rousing introduction to the cajón, the box drum imported into flamenco from South America in the 1970s, here played by virtuoso Spanish percussionist “El Piraña”. The encore, Marsalis’s “Bulería El Portalón”, was named after a restaurant, and captured the life-affirming optimism created by a fine meal eaten in good company. ★★★★☆

Keith Jarrett’s piano playing is also orchestral in scope, and his deconstructions of the American songbook with his accompanists Jack DeJohnette and Gary Peacock are legendary – they released their first album in 1983. At the Royal Festival Hall, the two extremely short sets – compensated for by four ritual-laden encores – both started with piano extemporisations, continued with a brush-driven lope and ended on a high.

Jarrett has a portfolio of voicings at his fingertips, and the clarity of thought to sustain melodic development. And with drummer DeJohnette matching the pianist’s rhythmic independence with a solid pulse and ebb-and-flow timing, the trio pack in detail while avoiding clutter. The opening melody of “Tonight” swirling out of an impressionist mist still lingers, the intensity of the first encore’s “God Bless the Child” stands out, and the final lullaby was a perfect closer. ★★★★☆