JAZZ REVIEW : Brown’s Mainstream Invention

Wilbur Brown is a veteran of the jazz wars who still seems willing and able to fight a few more battles. At 58, his tenor saxophone playing resonates with the powerful energies of nearly five decades of inventive mainstream improvising.

Brown was at Legends of Hollywood on Saturday night and the Cat and Fiddle Pub on Sunday--a typical weekend for a player who has had a highly active, but remarkably low profile in the Los Angeles jazz community. Typically, Sunday night’s late set in the nouveau Bohemian garden of the Cat and Fiddle turned into a colorfully chaotic jam session.

Players moved in and out of the music almost casually--some good, some not so good--with Brown’s magisterial horn as the primary cohesive agent. He managed, in the middle of a shifting array of sounds, to deliver brisk, hard-edged solos on “I Love You” and “My Funny Valentine.” Perhaps most appealing in his playing was his capacity, even in such distracting surroundings, to find room for creative expansiveness in a straight-ahead, mainstream style.

Pat Britt’s alto saxophone also helped fill in some of the gaps between the stray oboe and cornet players who were sitting in. But there were times when imagination seemed to outstrip the movements of his fingers. Pianist Dwight Dickerson was a bit more articulate during his few solo spots, but--along with bassist Pat Senatore--was largely sentenced to providing supportive fills and backing for the jam session participants.

Brown took the chaos in stride. He clearly has the skill to make the most of almost any musical situation. Like the many world-class players with whom he has been associated over the years, he brings professional solidity and boundless drive to almost everything he touches.