Jazz : Charles Owens a Study in Purity

Charles Owens has the look of a lonesome traveler on the uncertain highway of jazz. Never highly recognized, he has nonetheless persisted in finding his own way through the twists and turns of the music’s multitude of changing styles.

Friday night at St. Marks Restaurant in Venice, he made one of his too-rare appearances outside the environment of studio dates and back-up bands.

Until his final number, he chose music that was uncompromising in its jazz purity, with pieces like John Coltrane’s “Equinox” and Cedar Walton’s “Clockwise” demanding skill in every aspect of improvisation. Backed by the superb rhythm section of Bill Henderson on piano, Donald Dean on drums and Richard Reid on bass, Owens played a series of solos as thoughtfully well-crafted as they were stirringly emotional. His tone light and airy, his rhythms as loose and flowing as those of Coltrane--who is an influence but not a model for him--Owens approached every number as though it were a challenge to the breadth of his skills.

Each of the other players also performed impressively in extended solo sections, with Henderson’s piano work particularly attractive in its ability to blend contemporary styles ranging from fleet Bud Powell-like single note lines to massive block chording.

Owens wrapped up the set with a slow, inexorably driving blues that sprung his tenor saxophone loose for a whimsical salute to every jazz man who has had to honk his way across a bar to excite an audience. The noisy St. Marks crowd loved it. Somehow, you just knew they would.