Pop Music

Musically, they’re wolves in sheep’s clothing. When they’re not on the road with Barry Manilow, the four members of the pop crooner’s backup band are busy touring and recording on their own as Uncle Festive, one of the hottest young pop-jazz groups in the nation.

Uncle Festive, performing tonight at the Bacchanal nightclub, released its second album, “Say Uncle,” last November to almost universal critical acclaim. Yet, good reviews don’t necessarily mean good money, so the quartet from Los Angeles continues to back Manilow whenever--and wherever--they can.

“All four of us were free-lance musicians when Barry hired us two years ago for his 1986 world tour,” drummer Bud Harner said. “By the time the tour ended, we got along so well that we decided to form this group to play for fun until Barry’s next tour began, and everything just sort of snowballed from there.”

That Uncle Festive’s career “snowballed” is no surprise if you consider that all four members were already well-established in jazz circles when they first hooked up with Manilow.

Harner has recorded with Stanley Clarke and was recently profiled in Modern Drummer magazine. He has served as host at clinics at various college jazz festivals throughout the United States.

Guitarist John Pondel has toured with jazz greats Harold Land and Marshall Royal and for a time fronted his own group with singer Randy Crawford.

Bassist Marc Levine is a founding member of pop-jazz heavyweights Pocket Change and has played with the likes of Joe Sample and Bobby Lyle.

And keyboardist Ron Pedley has toured and recorded with more than a dozen respected jazz artists and groups, including Maynard Ferguson’s Big Band, Freddie Hubbard, and the Dallas Jazz Orchestra.

“Barry understands that eventually we’re going to leave him and make a go of things on our own,” Harner said, adding that the next Uncle Festive album, “Young People with Faces,” should be out by May. “After all, he did the same back in the early 1970s, when he was with Bette Midler. So he’s being very supportive.”