Master Jazzman Moody Will Bebop Into La Jolla

Only a few times a year do San Diegans get a chance to hear one of the living treasures of bebop, and even less frequently, to hear one play in an intimate room where the acoustics do justice to the jazz.

Mark your calendars. Sax and flute player James Moody, an original bebopper with an open mind, begins a two-week run at Elario’s in La Jolla on Wednesday night. Moody learned the ropes from one of the seminal bebop figures, starting his career with Dizzy Gillespie’s Big Band in 1947. He recorded his first album as a lead artist the next year.

Unlike some of today’s jazz purists, who are negatively polarized by any instrument with a cord on it, Moody has allowed “discreet synthesizer overlays” by Onaja Allan Gumbs on his most recent album, “Moving Forward.”

On the album, Moody tackles two of jazz’s greatest songs, John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” and Thelonius Monk’s “Round Midnight.” He even sings his own “What Do You Do?”

Moody’s reputation was established in 1949, when he recorded the improvisation on “I’m in the Mood for Love.” As the story goes, he picked up another musician’s alto sax in the studio just before the producer told him he needed one more song for the record. Recording with the alto for the first time, he unleashed a rendition of “I’m in the Mood” that put producers in the mood for him.

Among Moody’s band members is pianist Kenny Barron, a legacy in his own right. If you only see one jazz show before the end of the year, make it Moody.

Moody’s appearance will mark a homecoming of sorts for piano player Rob Schneiderman, who left San Diego almost seven years ago for New York City and its bright jazz scene.

In addition to touring with Moody, Schneiderman has his first nationally released album out, available only on CD, called “New Outlook.” He teamed up with trombonist Slide Hampton.

The album mixes standards with Schneiderman’s original compositions.

“New York is still the center of kind of jazz I love,” Schneiderman said. “Acoustic instruments are played more out here. That’s where my heart is, playing real piano, not electronics.”

Local flute players Lori Bell and Holly Hofmann have finished new albums. Bell’s “Take Me to Brazil,” a collaboration with pianist Dave Mackay, is due in the record stores next week, while Hofmann’s “Take Note” will arrive in January.

Both women are favorites of local fans of straight ahead jazz. The two albums have at least one thing in common: the music is soundly anchored by the bass playing of San Diegan Bob Magnusson.

Bell thinks this album may jump his career into a higher gear. The idea to do an entire album of Brazilian music came from Albert Marx, head of Discovery Records in Los Angeles (Bell’s label), who’s been uncovering new jazz talent since that late ‘20s. Four of the songs were written by Bell, including the title track.

She first played with Mackay at a San Diego State jazz workshop he led several years ago.

“We had an instant magical rapport I’d never experienced before. The way Dave plays brings out the best in you.”

Bell and Mackay play at Words & Music Bookstore, 3806 4th Ave., at 8 p.m. Dec. 17. A second show will probably be added. Hofmann’s recording, her first as a solo artist, marks the start of a three-album deal she has with Capri Records in Denver.

Besides Magnusson, Hofmann is backed by San Diegans Mike Wofford on piano and Sherman Ferguson on drums. She wrote several of the tunes.

Hear her once a month at Diego’s Loft in Pacific Beach, where she also books the bands.

“This is a mainstream room, not fusion,” she said. The Loft, which opened last July, presents the music in a sort of no frills, ski lodge atmosphere, complete with fireplace. Hofmann mixes occasional visits from national acts like Slide Hampton and New York trumpeter Brian Lynch with a steady stream of top local musicians.

Jazz is heard at the Loft Thursday through Saturday. On Sunday afternoons, Wofford leads jam sessions at which the best local and visiting out-of-town musicians have been known to appear.

Told that some people don’t think his brand of music is really jazz, keyboard player Tom Grant was the first to agree.

“It’s not real jazz, but that doesn’t mean it’s lightweight,” said Grant from a phone booth somewhere near Jupiter, Fla., as he set out for his Sunday night date at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach.

Although Grant often uses a synthesizer and electronics on his eighth album, the new “Mango Tango,” the overall feeling seems related to the soothing acoustic music commonly known as New Age. As for whether or not the stuff is jazz, Grant doesn’t think that’s important.

“I think what we do is good music. It’s got a groove, it gets people nodding and clapping and swaying.”

Live, you can expect the group to take more risks than it does in the studio, where getting a marketable radio sound is a high priority.

The 9 p.m. show also includes a set by locals Peter Sprague and Kevyn Lettau.

RIFFS: Songstress Anita Baker shares the bill with soul balladeer Luther Vandross Friday at 8 at the San Diego Sports Arena . . . The ninth annual San Diego Dixieland Jazz Festival runs Friday through Sunday at the Town & Country Hotel in Mission Valley, featuring 30 top local and national acts . . . Smokey’s, basketball coach Smokey Gaines’ new club in Mission Valley, features live jazz with In The Socket, Friday nights from 5 to 8:30, Sunday nights, 5 to 9 . . . Saturday night, Jimmie and Jeanne Cheatham and the Sweet Baby Blues Band perform at Solana’s, the new Italian restaurant/club in Solana Beach. Friday nights, the club features big band music.