JAZZ REVIEWS : Saxophonist Watanabe and Crew at Palace

The Palace was packed to the rafters by 8:30 Thursday night, the musicians were on hand and everything was set for the appearance of Sadao Watanabe, the Japanese jazz saxophonist. But it wasn’t until 9:45 that the show finally began. The reason for the delay? According to one of the mid-floor peacekeepers, it was to sell more booze.

As an alcohol salesman, Watanabe deserves no credit. As a musician, he deserves much.

With a backup quintet of some of Los Angeles’ most talented fusion musicians, Watanabe provided a perfectly delightful set of music that, while clearly in the contemporary fold, never lost sight of its jazz roots.

Funk was the operative rhythm, of course, but the sense of improvisation and the sensitivity to the melodies and harmonic structures placed Watanabe and company a few pegs above the rest of the fusionists.

Though the sound system managed to distort Watanabe’s broken English beyond understanding, it didn’t interfere with the musicians. Russell Ferrante worked his keyboard magic flawlessly and Robben Ford, a guitarist whose sympathies lie more with rock than jazz, nonetheless managed to offer a couple of energetic and exciting solos. Abraham Laboriel, a rock-steady bassist, supported the group’s efforts handily and had some terrific fun with a rousing solo on “Down East.”

Percussionist Alex Acuna and drummer William Kennedy work as one, with the former adding spectacular shadings to the proceedings.

Watanabe, whose tendency to play sharp can be distracting, was at his best on a lovely ballad called “Morning Calm.”