A sparkling, joyous return of 'Jazz Week'

Drummer Max Weinberg, of Springsteen and Conan O'Brien fame, grew up as a rocker and never pictured himself driving a big band. But there he was at the Berklee Performance Center Saturday night, backing the Berklee Rainbow Band, a full array of 15 horns, piano, bass, and guitar. The occasion was the kick-off concert for the first Boston "Jazz Week" in a quarter century.

The Rainbow Band, directed by trombonist/arranger Phil Wilson, opened the show without Weinberg. Their first number was Matt Harris's "The Diver," a funky update of the classic big band dialogue between reeds and brass. Duke Ellington's elegant "Come Sunday" featured singer Alisa Miles, velvety-soft at first, then more insistent on the second go-round.

Singer Henri Smith, a New Orleans native, and tenor saxophonist Nat Simpkins, backed by the Rainbow Band rhythm trio, paid tribute to the Crescent City with "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?" Smith's big voice and easy phrasing bore a touch of Joe Williams. Simpkins's sax was gruff and bluesy.

Your Neighborhood Saxophone Quartet reunited for this concert after 12 years apart. Alto players Allan Chase and Cercie Miller, along with Joel Springer on tenor and Tom Hall on baritone, played Steve Adams's cerebral funk number "The Dive (For Pig Bodine)" with such brio that it was hard to believe they had ever left.

Clarion trumpeter Charlie Lewis joined the band for Louis Armstrong's "Struttin' With Some Barbecue," in a 1930s arrangement that featured the full band playing the Armstrong solo from his classic 1927 recording. Then Miles returned for a melodramatically melismatic version of Hoagy Carmichael's "Georgia."

Finally, Weinberg joined the Rainbow Band to play his own selection of mostly Wilson arrangements from Wilson's tenure with Buddy Rich. The drummer rose to the challenge of the brassy, riff-based charts, especially in his hi-hat work. Among the highlights were Wilson's loping "Basically Blues," Thad Jones's joyfully swinging " Big Dipper," and Bill Holman's dazzlingly intricate "Ready Mix."

The bulk of the solo space went to promising tenor saxophonist Fraser Campbell, flashy guitarist Jacob Hertzog, and polished pianist Joshua Gallagher. Also deserving mention were bassist Jeremy McDonald and lead trumpeter John Replogle.

It was a thrill to hear these big, bold arrangements in the flesh, providing a fitting fanfare for Jazz Week.