‘Jazz at the J’ Promises to Be Saxually Satisfying

Three of San Diego’s best--but least-known--jazz bands will play the Jewish Community Center in La Jolla Sunday night for “Jazz at the J.”

Two of them--Joy of Sax and the Mellotones--rarely perform at public concerts. The musicians might not have star status, but their music holds its own with the best.

The groups represent a veritable history of jazz music. The Mellotones focus on Duke Ellington’s music. Joy of Sax tackles both standards and modern jazz of the ‘50s and ‘60s. The third group, Chicago 6, concentrates on Dixieland and swing.

Joy of Sax was started 10 years ago by local saxophonist John Rekevics, who works with several other local groups, including the fusion jazz band Windows. The group is fronted by four saxmen: Rekevics on baritone, Paul Sundfor on alto, and Frank LaMarca and Gary Scott on tenors. Drummer Duncan Moore, bassist Chris Conner and pianist Mel Goot complete the ensemble.

LaMarca credits Goot with bringing a ruthless degree of “saxual punning” that has become an unofficial trademark of the band.

If the audience has requests, Rekevics says, “We try to perform them, anything from solo to group sax. That was main reason the group originated, for people’s saxual enjoyment, to arouse their saxual curiosity.”

As for the music, the group has been known to tackle Rekevics’ own arrangements of such complex compositions as John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps.”

With limited time to rehearse for this event, though, Joy of Sax will concentrate mostly on standards, reworked for saxes.

Rekevics said the four horns will go it alone on two tunes, including “Fugue” by Lennie Niehaus. The group is especially fond of Niehaus’ arrangements, many of them written when he was preparing music for the Hollywood Sax Quartet, which toured to promote Selmer saxophones.

The set will also include “Solar,” the ‘60s Miles Davis tune, “Nica’s Dream” by Horace Silver and a few light classical pieces.

From the Mellotones, even if you’re an Ellington fanatic, you’ll probably hear some surprises. The band plays several rare Ellington tunes, transcribed for their nine-man lineup by drummer Tom Lomehl. LaMarca plays with the Mellotones, too, and is especially fond of reproducing sax parts originally played by sax master Ben Webster.

Traditional jazz as practiced in Chicago and Kansas City, Mo., will get its share of attention from the Chicago 6. Their repertoire includes standards such as “Kansas City,” “Sweet Georgia Brown” and “Moten Swing.”

The band is one of the most popular period bands in the country, traveling to 20 or 25 jazz festivals a year. They’ve done five self-produced albums, many of which will be available Sunday night.

Classical and jazz bassist Bertram Turetzky will be the show’s host.

In his search for a fuller jazz guitar sound, Art Johnson has strayed to a guitar with seven strings, instead of the usual six.

“It gives me a more pianistic range,” said Johnson, who plays Words & Music bookstore in Hillcrest this Friday night at 8. “Sometimes it confuses the hell out of bass players.” Johnson’s guitar is tuned like a six stringer, but with a seventh string tuned to A an octave below the fifth string. This creates a whole new range of harmonic possibilities.

Few musicians have tackled the instrument. According to Johnson, L.A. guitarist George Van Eps pioneered the seven-string jazz guitar in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s. Johnson’s Friday night set will feature the music of Cole Porter and George Gershwin, plus be-bop tunes by Clifford Brown and Thelonious Monk. Johnson studied jazz guitar with Barney Kessel and went on to record or play with Lena Horne, Paul Horn, Ray Pizzi, John Klemmer and Tim Weisberg. He’ll be joined Friday by locals Tim McMahon on drums and Hank Dobbs on bass. April 3, Johnson is giving a free guitar clinic at Mira Costa College in Oceanside, followed by a concert in the college’s auditorium on April 7. He’s also featured Thursday nights beginning March 29 at the Beach House restaurant in Mission Beach.

This spring’s RUSE Fest opens Saturday night with a performance by experimental music students from UC San Diego. An ensemble of eight to 10 musicians will play RUSE Performance Gallery’s small storefront space at 447 Fifth Ave. The spring festival continues next weekend with Friday and Saturday night appearances by the RUSE Free Music Collective, an avant-garde jazz group including such top local players as multi-instrumentalist Turiya and pianist Joe Garrison. The group represents the freest form of jazz expression. Compositions leave maximum room for collective improvisation. “The parameters have to do with shape, color, texture, rhythms,” Turiya said. “The music is almost totally improvised.” On April 6, the RUSE Fest presents the acclaimed ROVA Saxophone Quartet from the San Francisco Bay Area.

RIFFS: There’s a new place to hear solo jazz piano in an intimate setting. Monday through Saturday afternoons from 12:30 to 4:30, Cafe Lautrec in La Jolla presents top local pianists Bob Hamilton, Mike Wofford and Daniel Jackson, who play the days in rotation. . . . San Diego Jazz Society’s “Salute to the Master’s” series ends April 1 with a performance by trumpeter Snooky Young at San Diego State University’s Don Powell Theater. He’ll be backed by SDSU’s Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Bill Yeager. A new three-part series of jazz society concerts opens April 18 with Inner Circle, featuring saxophonist Steve Feierabend and pianist Randy Porter, at the downtown library. . . . Pianist Hank Jones, who plays Elario’s through Sunday night, tapes one of KPBS-TV’s “Club Date” jazz programs tonight. . . . This Friday and Saturday nights, San Diego flutist Lori Bell and L.A. pianist Dave Mackay play the Palace Bar at the Horton Grand Hotel downtown.