Sax Men Provide Horns Aplenty

The annals of jazz list more than a few battles of the saxes.

These are mock, and sometimes not so mock, competitions in which two or more horn players, most often sporting tenor saxes, get together to create musical excitement--and perhaps box-office sizzle.

Among the most renowned two-horn teams have been Dexter Gordon and Wardell Gray in the late 1940s, and Al Cohn and Zoots Sims, Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt and Johnny Griffin and Eddie (Lockjaw) Davis--all in the ‘50s and ‘60s. The musicians scored on recordings and in live performances.

In recent years, saxophone twosomes, threesomes and foursomes have become more scarce, which makes the debut of Stray Voltage tonight at Le Cafe in Sherman Oaks of particular interest.

The group is headlined by three Los Angeles-based saxophonists--Brandon Fields, Bob Sheppard and Rob Lockart. Each musician is a vital, authoritative stylist capable of powerhouse improvisations.

Fields, whose third Nova Records album, “Everybody’s Business,” has just been released, takes credit for the conception of the group.

“I’m the guilty party,” said the 33-year-old native of Santa Ana, who trades off between leading his own electrified combo and working in L. A. recording studios. “I wanted to set up an acoustic, multi-sax situation. It’s something different than what I usually do, and I’ve been wanting to do it for a long time.”

Choosing Sheppard and Lockart seemed natural to Fields. “They’re both friends, and I love their playing,” said the man who has also worked with the Rippingtons and pianist-singer Jude Swift.

To be sure, the admiration isn’t just on Fields’ part.

“Brandon, he has his own thing, a very identifiable sound. He plays a helluva saxophone,” said Sheppard, 39, who hails from Levittown, Pa., and plays regularly in bands led by trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and pianist Billy Childs.

Lockart had heard and played with Sheppard at Eastman School of Music in Rochester--from which Sheppard graduated in 1977, Lockart in 1980--and at Loyola University in New Orleans, where both taught in 1980.

“He played mostly alto then. Later I heard him on tenor” with Freddie Hubbard, “and I thought, ‘Oh, man, this guy is great,’ ” said Lockart, 38. The Austin, Tex., native has been in Los Angeles four years, working with singer Carl Anderson and the West Coast branch of the Woody Herman Orchestra.

The three musicians get together and play, trade horns (“It’s like a powwow for horns and mouthpieces,” Fields said) and talk about what they’re now listening to. “Lately, it’s been Joe Lovano and the new album, ‘Meant to Be,’ by John Scofield,” Fields said. Lovano is a saxophonist, Scofield a guitarist.

A couple of tunes from that album will be part of the band’s repertoire tonight, as will a pair from Sheppard’s Windham Hill Jazz label debut, “Tell Tale Signs,” and some Fields originals.

The fellows plan a couple of rehearsals for the engagement and hope that it’s the beginning of a new band, not a one-night stand.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Sheppard said. “We’ll give it a whirl and, hopefully, it’ll lead to other things. We’re three guys who all play, and all we can do is try.”

Stray Voltage plays at Le Cafe, 14633 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, tonight at 9 and 11. Cover is $10; two-drink minimum.