A New Tribute to the Man of La Mancha

Since Don Quixote attacked his first windmill in 1605, the delusional Knight of the Woeful Countenance has been one of the best-loved characters in Western literature. He has been no stranger to contemporary pop culture adaptations, from the classic 1965 Broadway musical "Man of La Mancha" to the 1971 film "They Might Be Giants" (an obscure but worthy variation) and Terry Gilliam's unfinished "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote." It seems only logical that a jazz composer should want to deal with the Don.

And so, just in time for the 400th anniversary of the publication of Cervantes's original, comes Ron Westray's "Chivalrous Misdemeanors," written for the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. At 35, Mr. Westray is best known as a trombonist and frequent orchestrator for the orchestra, as well as for half of a two trombone band he shares with longtime associate Wycliffe Gordon.

Mr. Westray's work is essentially a suite with 23 sections, described as "tonal portraits" in the program. Some, though, are songs with lyrics in the conventional 32-bar pop form. The piece was held together by the conductor Bob Stewart and actor Patrick Tull, who served as narrator. (The decision to put him to extreme stage right, though, was questionable: For the entire first act, most of us seated on the left assumed the orchestra was playing to a Book on Tape.)

There are vague and brief evocations of Spanish music and medieval music in Mr. Westray's opening "overture," but this is not a harbinger of things to come. There are no pasodobles or flamenco themes. Rather, the music itself is mostly reminiscent of Duke Ellington, still the greatest composer of long-form works for jazz orchestra, and Mr. Westray evokes Ellingtonian textures and approaches in much the same way Wynton Marsalis does in his own long-form works.

One of the lovelier passages in the first act featured baritone saxophonist Joe Temperly leading the reeds a la Harry Carney. Don Quixote's love song to Dulcinea in the second half had alto saxophonist "Warmdaddy" Anderson evoking Johnny Hodges's romanticism. Another piece, which opens with a booming bass vamp and flies into a rollicking 6/8, suggested Charles Mingus (Mr. Westray is a regular in the Mingus Big Band).

Mr. Westray is particularly skilled at writing for reeds, and certain passages recall Benny Carter and Glenn Miller's saxophone sections. He also put together highly original combinations, such as contrasting Ted Nash's super-high flute with Mr. Temperley's low A baritone.

The two young vocalists were particularly well used. Jennifer Sanon put me in mind of such well-disciplined Ellington voices as Kay Davis. Sachal Vasandani was a total surprise: He looks like the leading man in a Bollywood musical but is a very traditional jazz crooner in the great tradition of Billy Eckstine and Ellington's Eckstine equivalents, Herb Jeffries and Al Hibbler. He sang swingers and ballads, and he scatted with surprising ease.

The worst thing about "Chivalrous Misdemeanors" is its length. The piece is padded with long passages of narration, and could have been trimmed to a one-act, hour-long work. Much of the second half is a long detour through the tale of "Anselmo and Lothario," which is part of the Cervantes novel but has nothing to do with Don Quixote. A full-evening work for jazz orchestra is something to work up to; it has always proved difficult for Mr. Marsalis, and even Ellington rarely tried it.