JAZZ REVIEW : Hayes Leads a Stellar Quintet

His cohorts playing with a smoldering heat that often burst spontaneously into flame, drummer Louis Hayes led a stellar New York-based quintet through an auspicious debut set Tuesday at Stingaree Gulch in the Sheraton San Pedro.

The lineup of Charles Tolliver (trumpet), John Stubblefield (tenor sax), George Cables (piano) and Clint Houston (bass) represents the upper echelon of the modern mainstream players who came to prominence in the ‘60s. That was a time when individuality and intensity marked the music, and those qualities were consistently evident in the group’s performance that included Jerome Kern’s “Yesterdays” and Tolliver’s “Ruthie’s Heart.”

Hayes, known for his work with Cannonball Adderley, Oscar Peterson and a band he co-led with Woody Shaw, is a masterful leader, pushing and prodding his players from the trap set, but never overwhelming them. In tandem with Houston, a monster bassist with a buoyant bravura of a sound, Hayes delivered the kind of energy that allows for spirited, inspiring improvisations.

Tolliver and Stubblefield made good use of this handsome musical platform. On “Heart,” a catchy, dancing opus, the trumpeter emitted a tone with a bright, burnished core surrounded by a buzzing sonic outer surface and worked mostly in the middle register. His ideas were stated with a rat-a-tat rhythmic precision that swung hard, and he occasionally let loose with a wild, free-flung line. Stubblefield, who also has a distinctive, open sound that’s part murmur, part shout, sometimes examined the chordal structure of a song like “Yesterdays” with a Coleman Hawkins-ish exactness; sometimes, employing a firmly controlled circular breathing technique, he allowed a seamless flood of notes come pouring off his fingers.

Cables comped zealously behind the horn players, and soloed with equal fervor, scoring with some rollicking chordal improvisations. Houston was another terror in his solo moments, exhibiting a fertile imagination and a commanding technique that could bring off whatever came to his mind, though he, like Cables, could use a bit of space in his sometimes note-heavy excursions. Hayes had a brief extemporaneous spot on “Blues for Macao”; otherwise he used his considerable abilities to further his partners’ efforts.

This exceptional ensemble closes Saturday.