Club Brasserie Fits Jazzman Harris Well

Eddie Harris is a man of many musical hats, and on a recent Friday at the Club Brasserie, a restaurant/lounge in the Bel Age Hotel in West Hollywood, the jazz artist put on quite a few of them, giving his listeners an aural fashion show.

Harris spent a good deal of time playing his tenor saxophone, the instrument he’s best known for and the one with which, in 1961, he broke into the jazz limelight with his amber-toned version of Ernest Gold’s “Exodus.” He also offered several natty numbers at the piano, proving himself to be quite a nimble-fingered keyboardist. And he scat sang in a half-yodel, half-cry voice that was ultimately very funny, and intentionally so.

Harris’ creative expressions were warmly received by the hundred or so patrons who heard the renowned artist over the course of two sets at this Westside nightspot, where a jazz policy was instituted just three months ago. The cozy, pleasant room, adorned by a number of pieces of art by Joan Miro, Robert Rauschenberg and others, overlooks the lights of West Hollywood and the nearby Wilshire district.

The multitalented Harris spent the initial half-hour of his performance seated at the Brasserie’s Steinway baby grand piano. Among his selections was a very brisk take of “Will You Still Be Mine?” on which he delivered bouquets of choice notes while demonstrating an assured command of the challenging instrument. His accompanists--bassist Louie Spears, a longtime associate, and drummer Al Williams--were equally dashing. (The latter was on a busman’s holiday--he owns the Birdland West jazz club in Long Beach.)

Harris also played a bluesy number on which he exhibited a deep knowledge of jazz piano styles, one minute offering lightly shimmering chords that recalled the wonderful Erroll Garner, then dropping in snap-your-fingers funky licks that had the flavor of lines played by his occasional cohort, Les McCann. Harris and McCann made a splash some years back with their version of “Compared to What?” released on the Atlantic Records album “Swiss Movement.” (The week after his Brasserie date, Harris flew with McCann to New York City for a week’s stand at the Blue Note jazz club.)

After Harris played a particularly exhilarating passage, guitarist Sid Jacobs, Club Brasserie’s artistic director, called Harris “one of the greats of jazz.”

Midway through the set, Harris abandoned his piano stool, moved from two eye-catching Miros that were right behind him, and picked up his tenor saxophone. His versions of “What Is This Thing Called Love?” and “Lover Come Back to Me” were especially notable for his sound, which had an uncanny resemblance to the bright, bubbly alto tone of Charlie Parker. Harris’ feel for the be-bop idiom was another similarity he shared with the man they called “Bird.”

After instrumentally and vocally tackling Sonny Rollins’ “Oleo,” Harris took an intermission. He was asked if he appreciated his audience, which was rather talkative at first, but eventually quite attentive.

“You know when I think an audience is great?” he asked rhetorically. “When they don’t get up and walk out on you,” Harris said, laughing robustly.

Very few people departed while Harris was performing, and when seats did become available, they were quickly filled with waiting customers.

Gregory Amos, a writer-secretary from Los Angeles, was making an encore trip to the Club Brasserie. He’d caught Harris there the previous week, and arrived mid-set. “Eddie’s so smooth, and he’s got a great personality,” Amos said.

According to Jacobs, jazz was brought into the eight-booth, 10-table Club Brasserie in March to try to stimulate business. Among the performers who have appeared are pianist Lou Levy, Alan Broadbent and Kei Akagi, trumpeters Jack Sheldon and Sal Marquez and saxophonists Harris, Teddy Edwards and Lanny Morgan.

So far, attendance has been solid, said Paul Wolman, food and beverage director for the Bel Age. “In general, we did not expect the kind of response we’ve been getting,” said Wolman, who supervised a jazz program at his previous post at the Hawaii Prince hotel in Honolulu. “It’s something we’re building, but we’re very happy.”

Severin Ashkenazy, who owns the Bel Age as well as the L’Ermitage, the Mondrian and other hotels in the area, popped in between sets to offer his support. “As long as there are people who come and are interested, and as long as we break even, we’ll keep doing this,” he said. “I like jazz. I think good jazz is soul-filling.”

“Accessible jazz, which doesn’t mean watered-down “ is how Jacobs described the musical fare on tap Thursdays through Saturdays at the Brasserie. There’s no cover or minimum. Among the upcoming artists are pianist Billy Mitchell and reedman John Bolivar on Thursday, tenor saxophonist Bob Cooper on Friday, pianist Levy with singer Pinky Winters on Saturday, guitarist Ron Eschete on July 23, Akagi on July 24 and Sheldon on July 25. Jacobs performs July 31.

The Brasserie’s menu includes about a dozen entrees, a like number of salads and a handful of sandwiches. Among them: chopped salad with turkey, vegetables and pecans, $11; white albacore tuna sandwich with avocado and tomato, $6.95; grilled sweet-water prawns with a crustacean vegetable risotto and tarragon-caper butter, $18.95; angel hair pasta with tomato and basil, $11; and that old reliable, grilled New York steak, $21.95.

A splendid assortment of beverages is available. Wines by the glass average about $6, and include Veuve Clicquot Brut champagne, $12; Grgich Chardonnay, 1989, $9; and De Loach white Zinfandel, $4.50. Beers are $3.50 domestic, $4 imported. Well drinks average $4, premium brands and blended drinks are about $5 to $7. Cognac, which starts at $8, tops out at $95, that for a 1 1/2-ounce pour of Remy Martin Louis XIII, which is guaranteed to be at least 50 years old.

The Brasserie’s 400-bottle wine list challenges Santa Monica’s Valentino for length, if not breadth. Among them: Bollinger N.V. Brut champagne, $49; Schramsberg 1989 “Blanc de Blanc,” $37; Grgich 1990 Chardonnay, $29; and Caymus 1988 “Napa Cuvee” Cabernet Sauvignon, $39.

In spite of all this comestible delight, the music’s the thing at the Club Brasserie, and the full house that greeted Harris’ second set that Friday drove that point home.