Saxman Now Has Time for Drag Racer

Saxophonist Pete Christlieb says his life these days is equal parts “tenor and torque wrench.” Since his duties with the “Tonight Show” band ended when Jay Leno took over from Johnny Carson and Branford Marsalis replaced Doc Severinsen as band leader last spring, Christlieb has had more time to devote to his favorite hobby.

“Since the show ended, I’m closer to drag racing,” said Christlieb, who loves tinkering with the 675-horsepower, 215-mile-an-hour dragster he owns. “For 25 years I’ve raced cars. My kids are driving for me now. I could probably get into the car, but I couldn’t get out. I’ve lost my girlish figure, I’m sorry to say.”

But Christlieb, who duos with pianist Lou Levy this Friday and Saturday at the Horton Grand Hotel downtown, hasn’t lost his touch for jazz.

His new release, “Mosaic,” was recorded live in Portland, Ore., and features Christlieb with his former instructor, Bob Cooper, and a band that includes San Diego pianist Mike Wofford. Christlieb also plays on Levy’s new recording, “Lunar Sea,” due in October.

And you can hear Christlieb blowing up a storm on Tom Scott’s new release, “Born Again.” The two are longtime friends and musical sidekicks.

“We’ve known each other since we were kids,” said Christlieb. “My father and his worked in the studios. His father wrote music for TV in the early days, shows like ‘Lassie.’ My dad worked at MGM and did pictures like ‘Gone With the Wind.’ He played bassoon in the orchestras.

“Tom and I were pre-teenagers together, and we played in a few bands together. He wrote music for Steely Dan’s ‘Aja,’ I did some solos, including the one on ‘Deacon’s Blues.’ ”

Although Christlieb is a formidable jazz player, he spends equal time pursuing other musical directions.

He has a longstanding association with drummer Louis Bellson. He was a member of Bellson’s band when Bellson helped Christlieb land the “Tonight Show” gig 20 years ago, and the two still play often together. Last week, Christlieb was with Bellson’s band for a Disneyland date.

Movie work helps keep Christlieb’s bread nicely buttered. He played on the soundtrack of the women’s baseball movie, “A League of Their Own,” and contributed a solo to the movie, “Prelude to a Kiss.”

Christlieb can play just about any woodwind instrument, all manner of saxes and assorted clarinets, plus the flute, but he concentrates on tenor sax for jazz. He says duos, like the one this weekend with Levy, are his favorite format for cutting loose.

“There’s something intriguing about doing a duo,” Christlieb said. “Nothing is more totally honest than a sax-piano duo. The bass and rhythm are all implied, but you really don’t miss them. The feeling is there, that’s all that really counts when you’re trying to make music.

“You state a theme, then you improvise. Sometimes we improvise together. Sometimes Lou plays the melody, and I improvise. Sometimes I play the melody and he improvises. There’s a lot of freedom, but there’s a lot of responsibility, too.”

As for Christlieb’s life outside jazz, he may be a car racing buff, but his own personal ride belies his avocation.

“It’s a 1977 Lincoln Town Car with one fender skirt missing and a bent aerial and graffiti on the side,” he said, calling the car a piece of junk that “I don’t care about and nobody messes with.”

RIFFS: Jazz fans hoping to avoid the crush of crowds at the San Diego Street Scene on Friday night by catching some of the best music live on KSDS-FM (88.3) were disappointed. Before the show, KSDS had been told by Street Scene officials that signed permission forms had been received from management for Bobby Watson and Roy Hargrove for the broadcast of those top jazz players’ sets at the Hahn Cosmopolitan Theatre.

But Watson’s manager, Tim Patterson, never received a letter he had requested guaranteeing Watson a cassette copy of his performance. So, at the last minute, Patterson forbade the Watson broadcast. KSDS broadcast Hargrove’s opening set, but when Hargrove’s manager, Larry Clothier, heard that Watson would not be going on-air, he told the station that Hargrove’s second set was out of bounds too.

So KSDS ended up broadcasting its usual recorded jazz fare. . . .

The San Diego Jazz Party, an annual downtown weekend-long jam that typically attracted about 500 fans to hear top internationally known players, won’t be happening next year. The fifth edition of the party, held last February at the bayfront Marriott Hotel, was a “financial disaster,” according to Beverly Muchnic, widow of the event’s founder, Bill Muchnic. She announced the cancellation in a recent letter to jazz party regulars. Higher costs for air travel, hotel rooms and food contributed to the red bottom line. Muchnic is taking a year off with the hope of gathering resources for a return in 1994. . . .

John Coltrane and Charlie Parker are the universally revered gods of saxophone. But, since his death in 1975, Julian (Cannonball) Adderley’s star has steadily ascended. Seems like every saxman you talk to these days invokes Adderley’s name as a seminal influence. Some of Adderley’s best playing can be heard today on KSDS-FM (88.3), in honor of the big saxman’s birthday (he would have been 64). At 11 a.m., the station will play a live show recorded at New York’s Village Vanguard in 1962. The band includes Adderley’s brother, Nat, on trumpet, plus Yusef Lateef, Joe Zawinul, Sam Jones and Louis Hayes. At 3 p.m., the station will air another vintage live show, this one recorded at the Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach in 1960, with a similar band that also included pianist Victor Feldman. . . .

Another “Champagne Jazz” series is under way at the Culbertson Winery in Temecula. This Sunday at 4 p.m., the winery presents pop-jazz pianist David Benoit, with a band that includes Eric Marienthal on sax. . . .

San Diego guitarist Hank Easton plays Tutta Pasta, the new Carlsbad restaurant and jazz spot, every Friday night this month. . . .

Jazz jams continue at Espresso Literati in La Jolla, led by guitarist Art Johnson from 2 to 5 on Saturday afternoons. . . .

KSDS-FM (88.3), the San Diego City College jazz station, goes for blues tonight at 8. The “Jazz Live” concert at the college’s theater on C Street features two guitarists: Willie Jaye and Eric Lieberman. The concert will be broadcast live on KSDS.

CRITIC’S CHOICE

George Benson at Humphrey’s

George Benson hasn’t released a new recording since the 1990 “Big Boss Band,” a collaboration with the Count Basie Orchestra, yet the hot jazz guitarist-turned-cool soul crooner remains a popular favorite.

He’s still a “core” artist on KIFM (98.1) in San Diego--although the genuine jazz on “Big Boss Band” isn’t among the selections. But such Benson hits as “Turn Your Love Around,” with its steady, danceable beat and emphasis on Benson’s vocals--not his guitar--get played as often now as ever.

Benson’s new potential top seller is a single on which he does a duets with singer Patti Austin on the theme song for a new animated movie, “Freddie as F.R.O.7.” A new Benson album is almost finished and should be out early next year.

Meanwhile, you can catch him tonight at 7 and 9 at Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay. He’s still one of the baddest guitarists around. There’s an insider story about him and former San Diego bassist Nathan East going head-to-head in a friendly cutting contest, with East on guitar, eventually bowing out when Benson hit full speed.

Benson takes each live performance as it comes. He reportedly doesn’t prepare set lists and decides what to play based on the sense he gets of what each audience wants. So, if you want to hear more of Benson’s guitar and less of his lovey-dovey vocals, shout it out.