Kenny Garrett Quartet Soars Through Improvisations

Kenny Garrett, arriving in town from a Japan tour, hit the ground in high gear at Catalina Bar & Grill on Tuesday night. Kicking off a six-night run, the adventurous alto saxophonist’s quartet shot out of the starting blocks with the sudden, high-powered acceleration of a dragster.

The opening number was titled “2 Down and 1 Across,” but neither the title nor the content of the piece was as significant as the soloing, which dominated both the piece and the entire set.

Concentrating on alto saxophone, except for a single blues-driven number on soprano saxophone, Garrett rarely bothered to engage the more lyrical side of his playing. This was a night in which the musically aggressive, improvisationally edgy aspect of his musical imagination dominated. And, despite occasional tendencies toward repetition--building climactic high-note shrieks into his solos, for example--it was an impressive display of one of the world’s finest jazz saxophonists in full flight.

Garrett’s soloing was balanced by the piano work of Vernell Brown Jr. and the supportive bass playing of Charnett Moffett. Brown, in particular, offered useful textural contrast, often lowering the intensity level with spare chording, at other times ripping across the keyboard in McCoy Tyner-like fashion. And Moffett used his limited solo space to showcase his view of the bass as much more than a timekeeping instrument.

The work of drummer Chris Dave, however, was problematic. Performing at two dynamic levels--loud and louder--and essentially structuring his playing as a virtually nonstop solo, he was simply far too present in the musical mix. Granted his virtuosic technique and his efforts to follow in the footsteps of Tony Williams and Elvin Jones, he has not yet achieved their capacity to listen and interact with other players.

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* The Kenny Garrett Quartet at Catalina Bar & Grill, 1640 N. Cahuenga Blvd. Tonight at 8:30 and 10:30, $16 cover. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, $18 cover at 8:30 p.m., $16 cover at 10:30 p.m. Two-drink minimum. (323) 466-2210.