JAZZ REVIEW : Familiarity Breeds Content for Collette

HUNTINGTON BEACH —  There are advantages to working with familiar faces, and they were apparent Saturday at Maxwell’s, where saxophonist-clarinetist-flutist-composer Buddy Collette worked with his regular sidemen--guitarist Al Viola, bassist Richard Simon and drummer Harold Mason--in a first set almost exclusively made up of Collette’s own tunes.

Collette’s previous visits to Maxwell’s found him in front of the house band, thumbing through standards in a search for common ground. Despite usually good performances all around, the shows always lacked one side of the many-sided musician: Collette the composer. This weekend’s appearance, with longtime cohorts familiar with his material, changed all that.

The original material reflected Collette’s love of attractive melodic lines and rhythmic surprises. Thoughtful and quietly descriptive, the quartet’s sound, with Viola’s guitar serving much the same purpose as a piano in a traditional rhythm section, came at gentlemanly volumes and with all the smooth polish of a chamber group.

But despite the reserved attack, there was plenty of expression bubbling just beneath the shiny surface, with smart, sometimes emotional improvisations and alert interplay among the foursome.

The group pulled together on the standard “Softly As in a Morning Sunrise,” with Collette applying fluid clarinet lines that seemed to tumble from brief, bubbling blues references. Collette and Viola added a series of swirling prompts to Simon’s insistently melodic bass solo before exchanging clever lines with Mason’s snappy brushes.

Then the group moved into Collette’s originals, starting with “Veda” (pronounced “Veeda”), a tune named for his daughter. Collette, this time on alto, moved through the tune’s swaying Latin feel with warm, circular statements, backed by Viola’s smart chords. During his own solo, the guitarist matched crisp, single-note phrases with clipped strums that played off the song’s tempo. Viola seemed inspired by the entrance of a group of youthful, long-haired males, adding a series of bent notes and chordal dissonance that, though not exactly Jimi Henrix-like, certainly made the improvisation more electric.

The “Evening” section from Collette’s “Point Fermin Suite” found the reed man painting sunset tones with his flute after a light-on-its-feet waltz introduction, played in unison with Viola. Collette’s work on flute may be his best of any on the half-dozen or so instruments he plays. His sound was clean and without overtones, and he moved easily between the dance lines and unabashed swing. Viola pinned his solo on a single low tone that popped up in unexpected places during long phrases and chordal clusters. His insertion of a line from Duke Ellington’s “Rockin’ in Rhythm” brought a similarly phrased response from Simon.

Collette returned to alto for his “Andre,” a rhythmic character sketch that featured an assertive bass line. During Viola’s agile solo, Simon and drummer Mason locked tempos, providing exclamations at the end of many of the guitar runs. Mason showed off a shifty, sizzling brush style that he peppered with rim snaps and cymbal echoes. Throughout the evening, his taste and temperament served as a spark plug for the other musicians.

Some credit for the show’s success must be given to Maxwell’s management for changing its policy, from one that featured solo artists with an ensconced house band, to one that allows the guest musicians to bring in their own groups. It certainly made a difference in this case.