Connors, Henderson Take a Detour Back to Jazz Roots

Drummer Norman Connors and singer/bassist Michael Henderson did some of their most important work as pioneers of electric jazz/rock/funk fusion in the ‘70s. But in the ‘80s, they found success as purveyors of the music known in the industry as “quiet storm,” the soft, romantic R&B; of singers like Whitney Houston, Anita Baker and Luther Vandross.

This Sunday, Connors and Henderson bring their bands to Smokey’s in Mission Valley for shows at 7:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Lest jazz fans think there’s nothing in it for them, Connors said the live dates are much different than his honey-dripping self-produced albums.

“My direction is jazz, similar to Quincy (Jones),” he said. “I come from a jazz background, I studied jazz and classical music. We always play some jazz. I always start off the show doing Coltrane’s ‘Naima,’ Miles (Davis), Herbie (Hancock). Then, when the singers come out, we play our vocal hits.”

Connors’ pre-fusion jazz work was on the edge. He worked with Archie Shepp, Jack McDuff, Jackie McLean, Sam Rivers and Charles Erler before joining Pharoah Sanders’ group in 1971. His pioneering fusion album was the 1972 “Dance of Magic” with Hancock, Stanley Clarke, Ron Carter, Hubert Laws, Gary Bartz, Airto, Ron Carter and Hubert Laws.

Although his last album, “Passion,” includes several of the pulsing, romantic ballads that have brought him commercial success, there are also tunes like the title track, in which Marion Meadows’ electrified, Contrane-like soprano sax is layered over dreamy, funk rhythms.

Connors has always had great singers in his groups. His current band features Spencer Harrison, a baritone with a voice Connors described as “somewhere between Peabo Bryson and Jeffrey Osborne,” and Gabrielle Goodman, a former backup singer for Roberta Flack whose early training was in jazz.

Henderson and Connors made their last album together--”You Are My Starship”--in 1977. It went platinum.

Some of Henderson’s most intense jazz training came during his seven years with Miles Davis. Henderson grew up with the gritty sounds of Detroit, and by the mid-’60s, was one of the top session players during the “Golden Era” at Motown Records. He has toured with Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin, and played with Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, the Supremes and the Four Tops.

Henderson and Connors’ best known hit together was their recording of Henderson’s song “Valentine Love.”

How will the evening unfold?

“Michael’s group will play, then I’ll play. At the end, we’ll all get together, like a gumbo soup,” Connors said.

San Diegans most often hear Ron Satterfield as half of the successful local band Checkfield, whose music has become a mainstay of light jazz and adult contemporary radio. But Satterfield is also an accomplished straight-ahead jazz man, as he’ll be proving Sunday and Monday nights through March 26 at the Marine Room in La Jolla.

Satterfield and top local flutist Holly Hofmann are using a variety of material, including Hofmann’s compositions, lots of Antonio Carlos Jobim and several Frank Sinatra songs.

Satterfield plays several instruments, but for these dates, he’s bringing only his guitar and voice.

Checkfield’s new album, “A View from the Edge,” featuring Satterfield and partner John Archer, is due out March 1. Hofmann’s next, titled “Further Adventures,” and using Mike Wofford on piano, Sherman Ferguson on drums and Bob Magnusson on bass, is also due in March.

Last time he was here, temperamental sax man Gato Barbieri blitzed the Bacchanal with a set that leaned too heavy on ear-shredding volume, too light on musicianship. Barbieri, who played free jazz with Don Cherry before finding a more Latin sound, appears once again at the Bacchanal this Friday night. Depending on how he reacts to the idea, Barbieri may be joined on stage not only by his band, but by the Japanese artist Rocco, who is visiting San Diego and who often paints large, spontaneous murals to the accompaniment of live jazz.

For Grammy night next Wednesday, the Catamaran Resort Hotel’s Cannibal Bar will present the awards program on a large screen television, with local jazz man Hollis Gentry interjecting some live music. The Catamaran has been hit hard by last year’s demise of KSWV-FM (102.9), “The Wave.” The club had been drawing crowds of up to 300 for its regular jazz nights hosted by KSWV deejay Art Good, promoted heavily on “The Wave.” Good is back hosting the occasional “Jazz Trax” nights with his former employer, KIFM (98.1), and business is much slower, according to Catamaran general manager George Harrington. The Catamaran originally left KIFM’s “Lites Out” jazz club circuit to become the only club with a regular jazz night promoted by KSWV. With KIFM again, the Catamaran can’t get its old Wednesday night “Lites Out” slot back--it was given to the Del Mar Hilton. Harrington is crossing his fingers that the Hilton will “go away” so he can officially rejoin the “Lites Out” circuit, with its commensurate crowd-drawing radio promos.

RIFFS: Mark your calendar now for Elario’s list of coming jazz heavies: Feb. 21-25, Red Rodney; Feb. 28 to March 11, Scott Hamilton and Dave McKenna; March 28 to April 8, Art Farmer; April 11 to 15, Harry (Sweets) Edison; April 18 to May 6, Papa John Creach; May 9-13, Charlie Haden’s Quartet West, featuring Ernie Watts; May 16-20, Freddie Hubbard; June 6-10, David (Fathead) Newman; June 13-17, James Moody; June 27 to July 1, Anita O’Day. It’ll be the first time at Elario’s for Hamilton and McKenna, Newman and O’Day.