Pop and Jazz Reviews : Marquez at Vine St.

As a member of the Branford Marsalis band on the impending new “Tonight Show,” and with a GRP album of his own due out soon, trumpeter Sal Marquez is surely on the way to achieving the recognition he deserves.

Marquez, who led his quintet in the latest of a continuing round of weekly appearances on Sunday evening at the Vine St. Bar & Grill, is seemingly influenced by the Miles Davis of the pre-electric days, and he brings to his horn an impressive level of fluency and control without resorting to direct imitation of his mentor.

Although the group’s personnel varies little from week to week, the ambience essentially is that of a jam session, with little or no preparation or interaction between Marquez and Doug Webb, the tenor saxophonist who shares the front line.

The most impressive work during Sunday’s show was “If I Were a Bell,” in which Marquez made effective use of a muted horn. The old Frank Loesser song, with its attractive chord changes, seemed to bring out the best in Webb, as well as in pianist John Beasley, whose left hand punctuations were jaggedly unpredictable, and bassist David Carpenter. Jimmy Paxton on drums completed the propulsive rhythm team.

The group will continue its Sunday series indefinitely.