JAZZ REVIEW : Chemistry Clicks for Morgan, Backup Players at Elario’s

Saxophonist Frank Morgan’s life has been a roller coaster of ups and downs, and his music is a mirror of his emotionally charged experiences.

Despite a few chatterboxes in the audience Wednesday, his first of five nights at Elario’s, Morgan quickly proved why his comeback from drug addiction and prison life has been hailed as a major event by jazz fans and critics.

“Act as if we’re at Carnegie Hall,” he told the crowd after the opening number, an unveiled hint for the several talkers who nonetheless continued their distracting banter through most of the first set.

But that didn’t stop Morgan. After the first of several pleas for quiet, he bravely launched into his reading of “Round Midnight,” taking it at a molasses pace that let you savor every note of the warm, familiar melody. His version was an ethereal elegy, a definitive summing up of countless variations recorded by jazz’s heroes over the years.

Morgan is in top form. His playing was especially captivating on such slow tunes. Sometimes, he would draw a note out for several beats, carefully molding its shape, or take the volume down to a whisper, as if divulging long-concealed secrets.

He clearly enjoys his role as a jazz legend and mentor to younger musicians; Morgan’s subtle leadership soon elicited a warm rapport with his Southern California rhythm section: San Diegans Bob Hamilton on piano and Bob Magnusson on bass and Los Angeles’ Tootie Heath on drums.

Although Morgan clearly has a soft spot for ballads, he also has the speed and finesse demanded by such standards as Dizzy Gillespie’s “A Night in Tunisia.” Unlike some speedy virtuosos, though, Morgan knows when to put on the brakes. In between statements of the signature melody, “Tunisia” included ample room for various improvisations. Magnusson coaxed many kinds of magic from his bass, at one point strumming resonant chords that spurred the saxophonist on to new peaks.

But it was Hamilton who especially impressed Morgan with his fast, feathery touch. Morgan caught the pianist totally off guard when he announced that Hamilton would play one tune by himself for the fourth number of the set.

“Just me?” he asked, before launching into the moody “Ruby, My Dear.” His polished interpretation, softened by arpeggiated chords and bar after bar of bright, right-hand improvisations, caused Morgan to praise this effort several times during the balance of the first show.