Milestone in Swing

One of the positive aspects of Ken Burns’ controversial “Jazz” documentary, which aired on PBS in January, was its unabashed celebration of the swing era. Many critics pointed out that, had the series lavished as much time on other corners of jazz history as it did on swing, the project would have been more balanced and worthwhile.

Among other swing milestones, Burns paid close attention to the night Benny Goodman played Carnegie Hall. The Jan. 16, 1938, concert, a complete recording of which was released for the first time on the SONY / Legacy label in 1999, is generally regarded as a breakthrough in jazz history.

Until that time, jazz had the stigma of being music suitable only for nightclubs and dance halls, and that traced its origins to brothels. But here it was, in an American bastion of high culture. The crowd went wild, and a pact between jazz and the higher echelons of musical culture was initiated. Over the decades, that relationship has been rocky, but that doesn’t diminish the heady high of Goodman’s coup on 57th Street.

Local swing fans, both die-hards and neophytes, will want to take note of a concert on Saturday, when The Societe big band will present a re-creation of that Goodman concert. The Societe big band was founded in 1979 by Randy Siple, a.k.a. “Dr. Jass,” so spelled in deference to an arcane early spelling of jazz. On his Friday-morning radio show on KCSB (91.9 FM), and in his band the Untouchables, Siple features traditional jazz and swing.

Saturday’s concert, a benefit for the music program of Ventura’s Cabrillo Middle School, will feature clarinetist Dan Willard, trumpeter Roger Brides, percussionist Kelly Smith, vocalist Jan Nelson and many others.

DETAILS

The Societe big band, 7 p.m. Saturday, Ventura High School auditorium. Tickets are $15 general, $5 children younger than 15; 642-0988.

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ON THE SYMPHONIC FRONT: The New West Symphony’s program this weekend is notable on at least two counts. For one, gifted concertmistress Elizabeth Pitcairn will take a small yet considerable step upstage, assuming the role as soloist with the orchestra for the first time. Pitcairn will tackle Mendelssohn’s popular and virtuosic Concerto for Violin and Orchestra.

But the real news in this program will be the New West’s first encounter with Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra--or any Bartok, for that matter. That it comes in the midst of a season noticeably lacking in 20th century works gives it added importance. Even so, the Concerto is not a token concert-opener, but a main event.

Bartok, the Hungarian composer who is regarded as one of the 20th century’s greatest, didn’t attain his status by pandering to the audience or making pretty music. Bartok’s harmonic and rhythmic language tends to be rustic and intellectually challenging, by turns. His Concerto for Orchestra was written in 1944, a year before his death, and it turned out to be his most enduring and oft-played orchestral work. It’s a powerful piece, both sweeping and yearning, a showcase workout for any orchestra.

DETAILS

New West Symphony, tonight at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd., and Saturday at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center, 800 Hobson Way. Both concerts are at 8 p.m. Tickets are $8-$67; (800) 639-9378.