JAZZ / DIRK SUTRO : John Hicks Is Short on Fame but Long on Talent

Pianist John Hicks ranks among the unsung heroes of jazz. Hicks hasn’t enjoyed the acclaim of musicians such as McCoy Tyner (one of his key influences), Billy Taylor or Cedar Walton, but he is a critics’ favorite whose style combines impressive technical skill with powerful swing and a great feeling for the blues.

Although Hicks--who will be at Elario’s in La Jolla tonight through Sunday--has been compared with Tyner for his speedy right-hand and thunderous left-hand chording, his playing has much greater dynamic diversity.

He has a lighter touch than Tyner, who makes a piano a percussive instrument in the truest sense of the word. Hicks has a great way with a melody.

In his improvisations, the melodic line is always close at hand, but not necessarily in a literal sense. As a solo progresses, Hicks isn’t afraid to venture into the realm of the abstract. His finest improvisations mix the lyric sensibilities of a pianist such as Bill Evans with the more fragmented thinking of a Cecil Taylor.

Hicks’ early history placed him in an important line of jazz pianists. His breakthrough came when he replaced Walton as the pianist in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, and he later played in the bands of Betty Carter and Woody Herman.

Joining Hicks in La Jolla will be tenor saxophonist Chico Freeman, who, like Hicks, is well-acclaimed but under-appreciated, and flutist Elise Woods. Both are longtime associates of Hicks. Rounding out the quintet will be San Diegans Bob Magnusson on bass and Jim Plank on drums.

Cars had big fins and women tall beehive hairdos when the bossa nova brought America a new dance beat in the early 1960s. Some say the event that marked this first Brazilian invasion was the 1962 concert at Carnegie Hall featuring Antonio Carlos Jobim, Joao Gilberto, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie and Sergio Mendes.

After this initial U.S. exposure, keyboard player Mendes went on to conquer America. (He and his Brazil ’99 play a benefit concert for the Mexican American Foundation at 8 p.m. Saturday at Golden Hall.) Mendes auditioned successfully for Herb Alpert and toured with the trumpeter’s Tijuana Brass, but soon formed his own band. Alpert produced their first album for his A&M; Records.

With Brazil ‘66, Mendes made four gold records, capturing a large American audience by putting his Brazilian spin on American pop tunes such as the Beatles’ “The Fool on the Hill” and by doing Brazilian numbers such as “The Girl From Ipanema” in English.

Although Brazilian music as a popular trend faded, Mendes continued a productive career, recording several albums for A&M; and other labels before returning to the A&M; fold in the ‘80s. Over the years, he’s played not only in his own bands but with such American jazz masters as Cannonball Adderley, Phil Woods and Hubert Laws.

On his newest album, “Arara,” Mendes and Brazil ’99 (the group gets new numbers at least once a decade) depart from the successful American/Brazilian hybrid formula that launched him in the ‘60s. This time around, he trusts pure Brazilian music to speak for itself, without American pop tunes to broaden the appeal. Songs such as “Mas Que Nada,” a remake of his first American hit, are sung in the original Portuguese.

Female vocalists have always played an important role throughout the years in Mendes bands. Continuing this tradition is former San Diego jazz singer Kevyn Lettau, who returns to town for this performance.

Meanwhile, rock stars such as David Byrne of the Talking Heads and many jazz players have revived interest in the distinctive rhythms and optimistic melodies of Brazil. A whole new generation of Brazilian artists is basking in American popularity, partly because these American stars have helped bring attention to the music.

But Brazilian artists such as Ivan Lins and Djavan owe a lot to their predecessors, including Mendes. If you’re going to buy an album such as Byrne’s newest (a compilation of his favorite Brazilian artists), you owe it to yourself to hear one of the originals who made it possible.

Denver saxophonist Ray Iverson will be featured on KSDS-FM’s (88.3) “Jazz Live” program at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the City College Theater, C Street between 13th and 15th downtown. San Diegans may recognize him as a member of the Summit Ridge Jazz Band, featured several times at the Thanksgiving weekend Dixieland Jazz Festival in Mission Valley.

Iverson, a musical associate of Denver jazz musicians Spike Robinson and Ellyn Rucker (both of whom played San Diego during the summer), moved here last December. Although he has played a number of private “casual” gigs in San Diego, this is the public’s first chance to hear him since his move.

Iverson, who plays mostly baritone, leans toward romantic standards, but wants you to know that he does them up-tempo, not slow and mushy. “We’ll keep it burning,” he promised. Iverson will be backed by Bill Hunter on piano, Bob Jones on drums and Rick James on bass. If you can’t attend the live performance, you can listen to it on KSDS.

RIFFS: Trumpeter John Best and clarinetist Bobby Gordon will appear twice this month at Diego’s Loft in Pacific Beach: this Sunday and Oct. 22 from 2 to 5 p.m. . . . British guitarists Nick Webb and Greg Carmichael appear with their band Acoustic Alchemy at the Bacchanal this Saturday for shows at 7 and 10:30 p.m.