JAZZ REVIEW : Bob Cooper’s Melodic Style at Silver Screen

Jazz is back on the Sunset Strip. After a two-year lull, the Silver Screen Room of the Hyatt Hotel has returned to its old policy, this time in cooperation with the Los Angeles Jazz Society, and with saxophonist Bob Cooper as the current attraction, through tonight.

For many years Cooper has been a Southland fixture in the various worlds of studio music, big bands and small group jazz. The quartet he led on Thursday offered the kind of framework that suits him best, with ample space to stretch out.

Most tenor saxophone players today seem to live in the giant shadow of John Coltrane, but Cooper apparently has bypassed him, reaching directly back to such pioneers as Don Byas and Lucky Thompson for the influences on his richly melodic style and consistently warm sound.

Milcho Leviev, the Bulgarian-born pianist, has worked in every context from mainstream to avant-garde. On this occasion he seemed to be holding himself back during the opening blues. The second number, “Stella by Starlight,” brought evidence of his capacity for building a statement to a chordally dramatic climax.

The seldom-heard Billy Strayhorn song “A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing,” moved from a melodic statement to elegant variations by Cooper, with a stately, impressionistic chorus by Leviev and remarkable bass work by the uncommonly agile John Leitham.

Sonny Rollins’ “Airegin” found Cooper at his fluent best in a challenging tempo, with the inevitable set-closing drum solo by Nick Martinis.

The new Silver Screen policy will continue to bring jazz to this unusually comfortable venue Thursday through Saturdays.