POP AND JAZZ CAPSULES : FARRELL FLIES

Displaying ample evidence that he’s one of the more formidable improvisers around, multi-reed artist Joe Farrell led his quartet at the Wadsworth Theatre Sunday through some industrial-strength contemporary jazz that was both power-packed and crowd-pleasing.

Though at ease with pretty pop pieces like “Katherine” and “Angie,” Farrell was at his best on meaty jazz works like “Arab Arab” and the classic ballad for tenor saxophonists, Johnny Green’s “Body and Soul.” On “Arab,” the leader’s horn work was lean and mean, playing hunks of notes as if darting through traffic at 80 m.p.h. Farrell turned “Body” inside-out, disguising the melody in a long unaccompanied intro, then complementing some surging gushes with calm, cooling phrases.

On “Arab,” keyboardist Rich Ruttenberg played acoustic piano, delivering some lulling Bill Evans-ish lines before building to a dynamic climax. Bassist Bob Harrison and drummer Tom Brechtlein never failed to hold up their end of things.