JAZZ REVIEW : Webb Helps Serve Up a Diverse Menu

Legends of Hollywood is a steakhouse and jazz club on Hollywood Boulevard at Whitley Avenue, where the musical menu changes nightly. Conditions were particularly felicitous last Friday when the tenor-saxophonist Doug Webb led an ad hoc quartet.

Given the informality of the conditions, the four men inevitably stuck to standard tunes, but the talent level was high enough to produce salubrious results. Webb applied his agreeable sound to the likes of “All The Things You Are” and “Just Friends.” At times he suggested the early John Coltrane; this was especially notable when, playing Coltrane’s “Giant Steps,” he launched into a seamless stream of choruses built on the tune’s daunting chord changes.

George Gaffney, who was Sarah Vaughan’s pianist for years, extracted a surprisingly effective sound from a Yamaha electric keyboard, an instrument with an action somewhat different from that of an acoustic piano. His ballad style on “In a Sentimental Mood” was no less compelling than his boppish treatment of “Speak Low.”

Completing the group were Chiz Harris, whose long tenure in Jerry Lewis’ entourage has tended to obscure his capability as a jazz drummer; and the bassist Bruce Lett, the solid time-keeper and thoughtful soloist. Webb returns to Legends of Hollywood on Friday, but, in keeping with the room’s policy of diversity, will have a different rhythm section.