Sideman Samuels Will Be Out Front at Coach House

The musicians in such jazz-oriented pop groups as Spyro Gyra, the Yellowjackets and Chicago are the big band sidemen of this era. Like the Roy Eldridges, Johnny Hodges and Gene Krupas of the ‘30s and ‘40s, they glean the benefits of steady work with successful musical organizations. But they also must endure the inevitable creative restrictions of playing the same music night in and night out.

Percussionist and mallet player Dave Samuels, whose vibraphone and marimba have provided Spyro Gyra with a good part of its unique sound for nearly a decade, is well aware of these assets and liabilities.

“Well, one thing’s sure,” he said last week. “You can’t sell records by playing totally new things every night. It just won’t happen. So there’s no doubt that working with a group like Spyro means running into a consistent sameness.

“But, if you’re an improviser, playing the same material doesn’t have to be a handicap. Even if you’re playing something for the 300th time, you can still come up with something new. Or at least you can inspire someone else to play something different. It’s one way to keep yourself vibrant and alive.”

Another way--and one often chosen by big band sidemen, as well--is to maintain a schedule of alternative musical activities outside the group. Samuels’ efforts in that direction will be on display tonight when he performs at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano (and Thursday when he plays At My Place in Santa Monica) with a solid, very non-Spryo Gyra-like ensemble that includes pianist Kei Akagi, bassist Tim Landers, guitarist Pat Kelley and drummer Richie Morales.

Samuels is not bothered by the need to use different players for his occasional extra-Gyra gigs. “Quite the contrary,” he said. “I like getting different conceptions of my music from different players. Sure, it would be ideal to travel around with the same players all the time. But it’s also exciting to hear my music played by new players in other parts of the country.”

Another outside venture is “Living Colors” (MCA), Samuels’ first album on his own since he joined Spyro Gyra. It has shown solid sales and upscale air play since its release in April.

It was produced by Jay Beckenstein, Spyro Gyra’s saxophonist and chief guiding light, yet it reveals few Spyro Gyra touches.

“Jay’s a good producer,” Samuels said. “And that’s why he worked on the album. He made absolutely no effort to direct the music either toward or away from Spyro Gyra. He just wanted to make sure that I got what I was looking for in the clearest possible fashion. And I did.”

A graduate of Boston University and a veteran performer with everyone from Gerry Mulligan and Carla Bley to Anthony Davis and Frank Zappa, Samuels’ initial connection with Spyro Gyra was extremely casual.

“I first met them,” he said, “when they were a local bar band up in Buffalo (N.Y.). Although it appears from the recordings that I was with the group from the beginning, for the first five or six years I was basically just a hired musician who’d go into the studio and over-dub my music. I knew Jay and a couple of other guys, but nobody else was ever there when I recorded.

“I didn’t really become a performing member until ’82 or ‘83, and when I did start performing, it wasn’t really my idea. One day they called me up and asked me to go on tour. I looked in my date book saw an awful lot of white space and said, ‘Why not?’ and it’s just continued on from there.

“From my standpoint, it wasn’t something that was planned, or that I was hoping for. But it’s given me the opportunity to explore a whole other side of my playing, since it’s a very different musical environment from what I was experiencing before I joined the band.”

Unlike the Bix Beiderbecks, who chafed and struggled in a pop music setting, Samuels appears to be thriving, successfully using Spyro Gyra as a home base from which to embark on his other ventures, which also include teaching at percussion workshops and occasionally soloing with large orchestras.

“I guess you could say I’ve got the best of both worlds,” he said with a laugh. “So I think you’ll see me banging the mallets for Spyro Gyra well into the foreseeable future.”

Dave Samuels plays jazz at the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano, tonight at 8. Tickets: $13.50. Information: (714) 496-8930.