A sweaty, entertaining night of Dutch chamber jazz

Dutch trumpet virtuoso Eric Vloeimans must have been regretting his choice of a red velour shirt last night. The scant air-conditioning at the Byron Carlyle Theater on Miami Beach did little to cool the air on this ridiculously humid October night, and a visible sheen of sweat glistened on Vloeimans and his Fugimundi trio-mates, pianist Harmen Fraanje and guitarist Anton Goudsmit. However, the music they created was fresh, engaging, expertly played and very, very entertaining.

The drumless trio's blend of chamber music with a modern jazz aesthetic was far from ponderous or overly intellectual. If Vloeimans' outfit didn't give it away — besides the ill-suited red top, he also sported yellow, checkered pants of the Barnum and Bailey variety and extremely pointy white shoes — perhaps tunes he explained were inspired by the funny little motor carts at the airport, The Godfather and Bonanza might have made it plain. Then, of course there was the living cartoon of guitarist Goudsmit, but more on him later.

Vloeimans proffered a warm, sensual sound, and his dynamics were fascinating to observe; utilizing tremendous control, he played for the most part at a very low volume, occasionally placing his hand inside the bell of his horn, a much less strident alternative to using a mute. On another occasion, he just allowed his breath to emanate from the trumpet, as he rhythmically blew into his mouthpiece. Of course, when he wanted to, Vloeimans let go with high C blasts that cut through the soupy air like a siren. Compositions such as "Corleonne," the piece he related was inspired by The Godfather, were rich and complex, yet full of romantic feeling.

Seated at an upright piano that looked like it had been dragged out of a rehearsal room, Fraanje also maintained an exquisitely light touch, for the most part lyrically comping behind his bandmates. However, his understated expressions on the above-mentioned "Corleonne" and on an otherwise unremarkable duet with Vloeimans on "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" made me want to hear more from him; in fact, I wish Vloeimans had let him perform the tune on his own. Fraanje also wrote several of the evening's most interesting compositions, including the delightful "March of the Carpenter Ants," which did indeed conjure the image of the tiny buggers on the move.

But it was Goudsmit who really stole the show. Resembling a younger, thinner Brian Posehn or Chris Elliott, the guitarist mugged shamelessly throughout the concert, for example blurting out the word "Bumpercars!" like a Tourette's sufferer on the aforementioned piece about airport transport buggies. However, his musicianship was so fine, his goofy antics so seemingly natural, that it hardly detracted from his or his bandmates' performances; in fact,it looked like Vloeimans was truly getting a kick out of his guitarist, who, he explained to the audience, behaves the same way off-stage. Drawing angular, Bill Frisell-like lines, Goudsmit subtly worked a foot pedal and flipped an effects switch to and fro or rapped on the body of his instrument for percussive effect. His wordless vocals were tuneful and pleasant, as opposed to say the piercing cries of Keith Jarrett, a welcome accompaniment to his intriguing solos. The audience hooted at this unusual character's odd tics, as when he pretended to be adjusting controls in his head or launched into a hilarious parody of rock and blues shredder excess on a tune that Vloeimans wrote for him titled "Anton."

The closing number, the piece which the trumpeter explained was inspired by watching Bonanza as a kid growing up in The Netherlands, was one of the trio's least interesting, hardly conjuring images of Hoss and Little Joe, nor offering a particularly compelling melody. But in no way did it keep the audience from cheering wildly or leaving the show with grins fixed to their mugs. It was truly a treat to witness musicians, particularly jazz musicians of this caliber, who don't take themselves too seriously.