JAZZ REVIEW : Hutcherson Quintet Hammers Out Great Vibes

Vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, who co-led a group with tenor sax veteran Harold Land from 1967 to ‘71, was reunited with him Tuesday when they opened at the Catalina Bar & Grill.

Three members of this quintet are normally leaders in their own right: Hutcherson, Land and pianist Billy Childs.

With Tony Dumas on bass and Harold Mason on drums, they projected a strong sense of unity in the performance of works by Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk and Wayne Shorter.

Hutcherson, though best known for his exceptional agility, is no less impressive as an artist who in effect thinks with his mallets. From his opening solo on Shorter’s “United,” it was apparent that he would take no prisoners.

Childs, one of the most eclectic pianists on the Southland scene, and Land, whose sound is more brusque and jagged than in earlier years, kept pace with him successfully much of the time, though they seemed most effective when the tempo was not excessively demanding, as in Monk’s “Pannonica.”

A tune composed by Land during his early association with Hutcherson, “Peacemaker,” was the saxophonist’s most appealing vehicle. Childs managed to swing ferociously throughout the set, whether in 3/4 or 4/4 time.

The performance ended with Cedar Walton’s “Bolivia,” during which Hutcherson wielded his mallets demonically in a solo full of rhythmic contortions. A quasi-avant-gardist even in the 1960s, he continues to demonstrate his versatility and finesse on an instrument that has produced relatively few genuine masters.

The evidence will be on hand through Sunday.