These days, the word "diversity" has become almost a cliche. In jazz, however, it's always been a way of life.

Such was the case Thursday night at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild, where the audience -- stunningly light for a Guild show -- was treated to flavorings from the Far East and Caribbean, with the Asian-American Orchestra and venerable Jamaican-born pianist Monty Alexander in the house respectively for a two-for-one "Many Cultures, One Voice" concert.

For certain, the Asian-American Orchestra, an octet led by drummer/composer/arranger Anthony Brown, held up its end of the deal, incorporating traditional Chinese instruments and even some steel drums courtesy of Danny Bittker. Orchestra members moved around, too -- Bittker also played bass clarinet; alto saxophonist Melecio Magdaluyo also took turns at bamboo flute, conga drums and piano; and Liu Qi-Chao ... well, I'll get to him later.

Anyway, now for the music. The show opened up with the ballad "Monk's Mood," which began with Liu playing the original melody on the erhu, a two-stringed instrument similar to the violin, and Magdaluyo freely interpreting it later on alto. "Jackie," another Thelonious Monk tune with more of a Latin flavor, saw Magdaluyo on congas and featured Wayne Wallace on a stinging trombone solo and Liu taking a turn on a sheng, probably best described as a Chinese harmonica. Brown conducted a soothing but hardly innovative arrangement of the Andantino of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue."

The most ambitious piece was the three-part suite "E09066," named for the infamous executive order by FDR that created the "internment camps" for Americans of Japanese descent during World War II. It felt like a "before-during-after" piece. The first movement, "Ichi Katsu-Cho," had neither meter nor a melody and featured Liu and bassist Mark Izu each blowing a sheng. "General's Orders" opened with Liu blowing a suona -- a reed trumpet -- and "Rhymes (for Children)" contained a pentatonic melody hovering over the drums and moved into a salsa at one point. It was certainly a stretch for the casual jazz fan -- and perhaps that's the point.

However, the second half of the concert, featuring Alexander's trio, including bassist Hassan Shakur and drummer Harlin Riley -- who flat-out stole that part of the show -- was musically great but otherwise a disappointment; Alexander never even mentioned the tunes the band played or otherwise connected with the audience. I did recognize two numbers by Alexander's late countryman Bob Marley, "Jammin'" and "Could You Be Loved," both of which started out as traditional reggae but moved into swing; and the closing "Things Ain't What They Used to Be."