He Likes It When He’s a Travelin’ Man : Performing: ‘When I travel, I can immerse myself in music,’ Yellowjackets keyboardist Russell Ferrante says.

Russell Ferrante isn’t one of those performers who gripes about the road. Having been on tour for the last couple of weeks, the keyboardist with contemporary jazz-fusion band the Yellowjackets says he’s as happy as a Sierra Club member on a deserted mountain trail.

“At home, with my family, I have a lot responsibilities which I’m happy to take care of, but still it’s hard to get to my music,” Ferrante said earlier this week in a phone call from his hotel in Montreux, Switzerland, where he was performing with his group at the Montreux Jazz Festival. “But when I travel, I can immerse myself in music.

“I bring along a keyboard and I practice all the time, working out patterns, things I hear other people play, ways to take the group’s songs to new places. I really indulge myself.”

When not traveling, Ferrante, 40, lives in La Canada Flintridge and plays with the Yellowjackets, a quartet that also features Jimmy Haslip on electric bass, William Kennedy on drums and Bob Mintzer on reeds. The group will join singer Michael Franks in a concert tonight at the Celebrity Theatre in Anaheim.

While on the road, Ferrante--who, with guitarist Robben Ford, Haslip and others, founded the Yellowjackets in 1979--also spends a lot of time listening. At the recent North Sea Jazz Festival in the Hague, the Netherlands, the keyboardist treated himself to a bonanza of sounds.

“I heard some really wonderful music,” he said. Drummer “Jack DeJohnette’s Special Edition was unbelievable, intense yet passionate, and (tenor saxophonist) Jerry Bergonzi led a quartet with (pianist) Joey Calderazzo that was beautiful.” Elsewhere on the Continent, Ferrante took in performances by saxophonist Phil Woods, drummer Paul Motian, guitarist Bill Frisell and pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, among others.

Ferrante finds that these listening sessions not only inspire him, they also reinforce his feelings about what he does with the ‘Jackets. “That music, jazz music, is part of what we do,” Ferrante said. “We’re trying to search beyond the notes in the chords. We say it in a different way--maybe not in an acoustic way, and not as angular and dissonant a fashion--but rhythmically and spiritually, we’re going for that.”

Ferrante loosely defined the band’s concept as “trying to push past the regular stuff.”

“We try to avoid the cliches you’ve heard recycled time after time, whether in jazz or pop or whatever,” he said. “When I say that I always feel like I’m trying to . . . defend us, but fortunately we have the respect of a lot of musicians.”

Ferrante told about running into DeJohnette at the North Sea and DeJohnette’s telling him how much he liked the ‘Jackets. Earlier during its European sojourn, the L.A.-based ensemble had performed in Glasgow, Scotland, on a bill with pianist Carla Bley and bassist Steve Swallow. “We saw them backstage, and they told us they were big fans of our music,” Ferrante said. “It’s a funny way of blowing our own horn, but it’s really heartening. There’s a lot of great music we’re trying to learn from, and be inspired by.”

Ferrante said the electronics-based ‘Jackets are combining a variety of genres. “We play pieces that have an African feel, some that have almost a country hoedown feel; there’s a bop tune that sort of reminds you of Thelonious Monk; there are Latin and R&B; tunes. A lot of variety goes into making the sound.

“But mainly it’s jazz, in that the musicians are listening to each other and interacting, not just playing parts. Yes, we’re improvising on song forms that are a little different than some jazz, the grooves are different, but the central quality of improvisation and interaction and four guys trying to be like one is very much like jazz at its best.”

The Yellowjackets weren’t always so jazz-oriented, and Ferrante acknowledges that the band is moving away from some of its R&B; origins. “We’ve wanted to do this for a long time, and it’s taken a while to feel comfortable with opening up and feeling that people will still listen,” he said. “It’s the challenge of making up something on the spot, the challenge of aspiring to play at the highest level we’re capable of.”

In many ways, he said, the band is the same. “The constants are that we really like to write memorable melodies that tug at you, we like to throw in things that might seem conventional but give those a few new twists, and we like having a nice balance between compositions and blowing, but not going wild on either side.”

Ferrante said the Yellowjackets have received a definite boost from Mintzer, who joined about two years ago. “He has a nice give-and-take, and since he’s such a strong soloist, we’ve opened up some of our pieces to take advantage of his improvisational ability,” he said.

Touring also sharpens the band’s elements, and Ferrante says what listeners in Orange County will hear will be the Yellowjackets close to their peak. “The band is getting really comfortable with the music, and it’s flowing nicely,” he said. “Hopefully we’ve kicked it up another notch.”

Singer Franks performs on the group’s latest GRP Records album, “Live Wires,” so for them to appear together at the Celebrity Theatre is a natural.

“We’ve done 16 or 17 gigs with Michael,” Ferrante said. “We play our set, and then, along with guitarist Ross Traut, we back Michael. It’s two completely different things. We do our madness, then calm down and try to play as sensitively as we can. It’s a different approach, a different dynamic, and it’s challenging.”

Reflecting on his tenure with the Yellowjackets, Ferrante stressed the satisfaction of playing his own compositions. “I don’t take that lightly,” he said. “I play with a lot of talented people, but that’s nothing like playing your own music where you’re responsible for what happens.”

The Yellowjackets and Michael Franks perform tonight at 8 at the Celebrity Theatre, 201 E. Broadway, Anaheim. Tickets: $28. Information: (714) 999-9536.