JAZZ REVIEW : Cheathams Revere Old-Time Values

The blues blew into town Thursday (and will blow out again tonight) in the persons of Jimmy and Jeannie Cheatham with their Sweet Baby Blues Band.

Of the original group that made its record debut in 1984, only the leaders, saxophonist Curtis Peagler and drummer Ironman Harris were on hand at Vine Street Bar and Grill in Hollywood. The substitutions, however, were more than adequate. Nolan Smith on trumpet had that old time plunger-muted spirit down to a T, and Charles Owens, a tenor saxophonist with wide-ranging credentials (you can’t get much righter than Frank Zappa and Horace Tapscott) brought his warm sound to “I Can’t Get Started,” the only non-blues piece of the set.

Basically, of course, this eight-piece band focuses on the pianist/vocalist and her husband, who plays bass trombone and writes the neat, well-tailored arrangements. You can still hear echoes of the Baptist church in Jeannie Cheatham’s vocal tributes to the 12-bar idiom, just as her piano, whether shuffling its way through “What Goes Around Comes Around” or getting down to 8-bar basics with “Cherry Red,” evokes memories of South Side parties and Kansas City joints, of rent parties and evening trains.

Jimmy Cheatham’s muted bass trombone is a model of eloquent simplicity. Peagler’s alto sax at times became too shrill and busy to sustain the blues essence, yet his best moments dug deep into the tradition.

The Cheathams seldom stray far from their old-time values and don’t seem to mind if two consecutive tunes, “Rock Me in Your Arms Tonight” and “Meet Me With Your Black Drawers On,” are all but identical, even to the rhythm of those two titles. The audience didn’t seem to mind either.