Ed Shaughnessy Just What Doc Ordered; Bon Appetit Benefit for AIDS Hospice

Ed Shaughnessy got his start as a small-group drummer in New York in the mid-to-late ‘50s, but it’s as the rhythmic helmsman of Doc Severinsen’s “Tonight Show” orchestra that he is best known. “I guess you could say I was a be-bop drummer that developed into a big-band drummer,” Shaughnessy said.

“You have to learn a few different things for big-band drumming. With a big band, you have to provide more of that solid rhythmic core, whereas in a small group you have a lot more room and freedom to experiment with the time.”

Shaughnessy gets to delve into his experimental side when he leads his quintet tonight through Saturday at St. Mark’s in Venice. Though the band--Tom Peterson, reeds; Bruce Paulson, trombone; Tom Ranier, piano; and John Leitham, bass--hasn’t played that much locally, they work out of town occasionally, as on a recent jazz cruise on the Seaward, which is the sister ship of the Norway.

“We played opposite (alto saxophonist) Phil Woods,” the drummer said. “It was both nice to hear Phil and to feel that we held our own against him. He joked that since he has (trombonist) Hal Crook in the front line, and I have Bruce, that we’re single-handedly bringing back the “bone.’ There aren’t that many groups that use the trombone.”

Shaughnessy, 60, describes his quintet as a “1980s acoustic jazz group, in that we’re trying to play music of the ‘80s but with a lot of traditions of acoustic groups of the past, and with a lot of elasticity and freedom in rhythm section. Sometimes we’ll play without the drums, sometimes just go with drums and horn, we do different things.”

Big bands are still dear to the drummer’s heart. His work in the large ensemble arena is represented on two recent releases, “Doc Severinsen and the Tonight Show Band, Volume 2” (Amherst) and “Big Band Hit Parade,” with Gerry Mulligan, Dave Brubeck, Eddie Daniels, et al., in the company of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, directed by Erich Kunzel.

Shaughnessy has been making big-band records for a few decades and a handful of ‘50s sessions he did with the late Count Basie on the Command and Roulette labels bring forth fond memories. “Those dates I’m really proud of,” he said.

Keyboardist Dan Siegel, singers Mark Winkler and Julie Kelly, guitarists Carl Verheyen and Richard Smith and bassist Brain Bromberg are among those who will take part in a double birthday party at Bon Appetit in Westwood, Monday at 8 p.m., that benefits the Chris Brownlie AIDS Hospice in Los Angeles. The hospice is a 25-bed facility that “aims to offer quality care to persons in the last stages of the disease,” said Hywel Sims, a spokesperson for AIDS Hospice Foundation, a hospice umbrella organization.

“It’s going to be kind of a giant jam session. We invited some of our musician friends to play, and everyone thought it was a neat idea,” said Ellen Cohn, vice president of the Chase Music Group label, who shares the birthday honors with her friend, Geri Nelsen, a saleswoman for Navarre Corp., a West Coast independent record distributor.

“We picked the Brownlie Hospice because a lot of people are raising money for research projects, but not often enough for the people who are suffering,” said Cohn. “We wanted to do something for people who have the disease, to help make their lives as comfortable as possible up until the end.”

The requested donation is $12. Those unable to attend may donate funds through AIDS Hospice Foundation, 1800 N. Argyle St., Suite 301, Los Angeles 90028. Information: (213) 208-3830, 462-2273.

**** Trumpeter-arranger Jerry Gonzalez’s “Rumba Para Monk” (Sunnyside) is a collection of eight classics by Thelonious Monk--most bearing a Latin tinge--that shows how adaptable the great man’s songs are. For though the Monk sound isn’t here in these well-crafted quintet treatments by the leader, the essential vibrant flavor of his music is. “Bye Ya” and “Jackie-ing” are accompanied by a steady, cheery Latin rhythmic babble, while “Nutty” sashays between Latin and straight-ahead time and features a restrained solo from pianist Larry Willis that has more than a few sparkling corners. “Reflections” (a soothing meringue , with sax man Carter Jefferson softly speaking), “Monk’s Mood” and “Ugly Beauty,” the latter two done as the pure jazz ballads they are, all spotlight the leader’s appealing melodic improvisatory nature.