You can say this about Free Flight: It's a well-named group. The quartet's opening set at Bon Appetit on Friday night featured a collection of performances that were airy, ephemeral and lighter than air.
But not always. Because Free Flight had two conflicting images--one floated with the easy buoyancy of a hang-glider, while the other roared through the music like a renegade jet plane.
The facile, lighter-than-air Free Flight surfaced in pieces that featured flutist Jim Walker--formerly of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and now a much-in-demand sideman for television and motion picture recordings.
On the unfortunately titled "Mo's Art" (based on the Allegro movement of Mozart's C Major piano sonata, K. 545) and a set of variations on Prelude No. 6 from J. S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, Walker displayed his remarkable technical skills, bringing life and substance to arrangements that often verged on cuteness. On slower numbers, his rich, silken tone was a joy to hear.
