Common Ground Reaches Maturity on Its Debut CD

It’s rare enough to find a young, San Diego-based straight-ahead jazz band playing original music, rarer still for such a local band to land a deal with a label.

Common Ground hasn’t hit the big time yet, but the group’s new promotions and distribution deal with San Diego-based Time Is Records could send the group on its way.

The group includes saxman Steve Feierabend, bassist Dave Marr, drummer Tim McMahon, and former San Diegan Randy Porter on piano (he now lives in Portland).

“Manhattan Fantasy,” the band’s debut CD on Time Is, should be in local music stores by the end of the month.

Recorded in September, 1990, at Studio West in Rancho Bernardo, the album is a collection of bright, witty and decidedly swinging tunes that find these young players--all in their 20s or 30s--coming into their own.

All four musicians composed songs for the recording, but Feierabend made the most significant contribution, penning five originals.

“Randy probably is the most experimental harmonically,” Feierabend said, analyzing the band’s composers. “I think Dave writes very experimentally melodically. I don’t know how to describe my own style. I set up problems for myself and try to resolve them through compositions. I take things I want to explore harmonically or rhythmically, things I want to learn, and I write tunes based on them.”

Feierabend’s originals include “Driving Song,” a turbulent, twisting trip featuring his searing, searching tenor; the slow, moody “In Pursuit of Stillness,” inspired by the Taoist saying, “A man searching for God is like a man riding on a bull looking for a bull to ride”; and “Manhattan Fantasy,” written after a romantic vacation in New York with his wife-to-be, Allison, before their marriage two years ago.

After the band’s years of apprenticeship in local clubs, it’s rewarding to hear these players reaching maturity.

Porter delivers on the promise he showed during several gigs at Elario’s before his move to Portland last year. He is a fleet, energetic, original soloist and tasteful accompanist. Porter’s distant home isn’t seen as a problem because this band has its sites set on recording and national tours rather than playing local San Diego dates. Some upcoming area gigs, however, will feature a local pianist sitting in for Porter.

Feierabend is developing a sharp, original voice on sax, suited to both up-tempo numbers and slow, abstract passages such as his intro to Marr’s “Lisa Maria.” McMahon and Marr provide rock steady rhythmic under currents. As a package, these four create admirable chemistry.

The band won’t be playing much locally in the months ahead, but you can hear Common Ground on Dec. 6 from 8:30 to 11:30 at their album release party at the Horton Grand Hotel downtown, and at Paparazzi restaurant in the Golden Triangle on Dec. 8.

Sets at the Horton Grand will include new, as-yet-unrecorded material, while the Paparazzi date will focus more on standards.

Since they first played together in the 1960s, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and saxophonist Joe Henderson have recorded a half dozen albums together and played many a live date.

Their newest joint recording was made two weeks ago and is due out next year.

Adding to its impressive string of all-star bands, the Jazz Note (above Diego’s restaurant in Pacific Beach) has booked Hubbard and Henderson to play this Friday through Sunday nights.

“Joe sounds a lot like Sonny Rollins, he has that real tenor sound,” said Hubbard, who just returned from playing a concert in Poland that was covered by CNN. “I used to work with Sonny in the 1960s, so it’s good to work with somebody that has that depth. Most (tenor) guys sound like they’re playing alto.”

As 1990 winds down, next year is shaping up as a busy one for Hubbard. For starters, he has been invited to play in Africa as part of trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie’s all-star ensemble, a band that also includes San Diego saxman James Moody. Hubbard hasn’t said “yes” or “no” yet; it would be his first visit to Africa.

Hubbard and Henderson will be joined in San Diego by pianist Eric Reid (a sometime associate of Wynton Marsalis), bassist Tony Dumas and drummer Sherman Ferguson.

The RUSE, the performance collaborative, presents the latest of its cross-cultural collaborations at locations in San Diego and Tijuana this week.

San Diego pianist-composer-percussionist Eric Griswold and Tijuana percussionist Jorge Pena will lead a band of percussionists through an original, improvised work, “The Rhythm of Life,” commissioned by the RUSE.

Griswold, a graduate music student at UC San Diego, believes such cultural exchanges are vital.

“There’s been too much separation,” he said. “I’m glad I’m finally spending time down there.”

“The Rhythm of Life” will be presented at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the RUSE (3717 India St.) in San Diego, and at 9 p.m. Friday at El Nopal (637 Cinco de Mayo) in Tijuana. Call 295-5654 for information or reservations.

RIFFS: La Jolla’s newest jazz venue is Cafe 928 on Silverado Street. The 4-month-old espresso bar/art gallery features San Diegan Art Johnson on solo guitar Sunday evenings from 6 to 9. . . .

Del Mar guitarist Peter Sprague makes his long-awaited return after a bout with tendinitis in his right wrist. Sprague will be joined by frequent sidekicks Steve Kujala (flute) and Kevin Hennessy (drums) this Friday and Saturday at the Horton Grand Hotel downtown. . . .

San Diego bands Most Valuable Players and Bob McMahon and the Real Band will be featured at this weekend’s jazz getaway at La Casa del Zorro resort in Borrego Springs. Call 1-800-824-1884 for information.

CRITIC’S CHOICE: VETERAN DUO TO MAKE LOCAL DEBUT AT ELARIO’S

Southern saxman Houston Person has blown a big tenor with musicians ranging from Don Ellis to Don Menza, but the longest musical relationship in the 56-year-old’s career has been his 23-year collaboration with singer Etta Jones, a former bandmate of Earl Hines, Art Blakey and others.

The New Jersey-based Person’s newest recording, “The Party,” was released last week (Jones isn’t on it). Person produced and plays on Jones’ newest album, “Sugar.” The two make their long overdue San Diego debut Thursday through Sunday at Elario’s. Person said their sets will include material from several of their albums plus several unrecorded favorites.