JAZZ REVIEW : Joe’s Jam Goes Over Smoothly at El Matador : The focus was on the music, not the man, as Massimino’s big band plays with quiet zeal.

If a single word could characterize the Joe Massimino Big Band’s first set Wednesday at El Matador, it would have to be “relaxed.”

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The performance had all the feeling of a jam session, that sort of “Well, what shall we play next?” flavor. Which was OK, since the music, some of which recalled the Count Basie band of the 1950s, was of quality and was performed with a quiet zeal by the 17-piece crew.

Funny, but for a bandleader, Massimino, the former musical director for the Mike Douglas television show, didn’t do a lot. The arrangements were mainly written by Orange County alumni Tom Kubis and Tom Ranier, and Massimino sat with his back to the audience, getting up only occasionally from his electronic keyboard to conduct the ensemble. Mostly, he just sat and played. He left the emcee chores to the Matador’s witty musical director, bassist Luther Hughes.

But that presented no problem either, because it left the focus on the music, not the man.

The evening kicked off with “Exactly Like This,” a Kubis original that closely resembled--that’s right--the old standard, “Exactly Like You .” The band played the arrangement with subtlety, almost cooing the soft sections, then hammering home the bright and loud “shout” chorus.

The piece also showcased two of the band’s solid-brass soloists. Trumpeter Jeff Bunnell displayed his ability to build an improvisation: He employed both deft, small ideas and lines that seemed to go on and on, like a fire hose being unrolled. Andy Martin, a first-class trombonist, worked with a comely sound that was part fur, part file. At one point he played stretched-out tones; at others, he let loose with careening volleys that fought for aural space with the band bursts that surrounded him.

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Massimino offered his only solo of the set on “Exactly.” A be-bop based improviser, the keyboardist used a ringing sound and offered ideas that went up his instrument, then fell back down a little, then went higher, like driving over a desert road that dips in and out of gullies. He also dropped in brief, punchy ideas, and bluesy phrases that gave his outing a down-home funkiness.

The band came back in for a sotto voce tutti passage, meaning they played quietly and in unison. Later, after a passage that highlighted the saxes, the band delivered a tidy, six-note phrase that ended this piece just like the signature at the bottom of a letter.

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Up next was Dave Metzger’s lovely ballad, “Long Summer Nights.” Altoist Sal Lozano’s gleaming sound darted in and around clouds of brass tones that filled the stage the way a sunset fills the sky. Then Dewey Erney arrived to sing five numbers.

Erney’s tenor voice was best suited to the tunes that swung the hardest, such as “Mack the Knife,” where he climaxed with an off-key note that fit perfectly, and a Tom Ranier arrangement of Bobby Troup’s “Route 66.”

The wondrous Stephanie Haynes, who remains the finest jazz-based female vocalist in our midst, also was on hand. She did three tunes, including “This Can’t Be Love” and “So Many Stars”--written by Sergio Mendes and associated with Sarah Vaughan. Haynes’ interpretation of the latter, which is about the search for love, was masterful and incredibly moving. She clearly sang each of the lyrics, holding the words out, then finished these short phrases with a succinct vibrato. Her renditions are always a pleasure to witness.