Jazz : Manning Quintet

Inn Arty’s, the Pasadena restaurant where acoustic jazz has proliferated recently, played host Friday to a quintet led by tenorsaxophonist Chuck Manning.

Manning and Swiss trombonist Isla Eckinger constitute an appealing front line with their tenor-and-trombone blend. Manning’s sound is bold and his rhythmic sense keen. Eckinger suggests a latter-day counterpart of the bop pioneer J.J. Johnson. The results achieve a valid personality that is fortified by the use of original material rather than the same old standards.

Although this group--with Jack Ranelli on drums, Jim Szilagyi on piano and Derek Oleszkiewicz on bass--won’t set the world on fire with radical innovations, it generates enough heat to suffuse the room with a warm, winning glow.