JAZZ REVIEW : Doug Webb’s Slow-Burning Secret Worth Hearing

Saxophonist Doug Webb has distinguished himself in the Southern California jazz pantheon as an improviser with sterling skills and considerable energy and fire. To use a musicians’ term for playing fast and furiously, Webb loves to “burn,” and often does when he appears with his piano-less trio on Mondays at Cafe Concerto in Costa Mesa.

But on Tuesdays, when he performs with just a pianist in the relaxed atmosphere of the lounge at Bistango, he adopts a different persona. Essentially employed to provide background music for diners, he puts melody in the forefront and solos in a leisurely, one might even say mellow manner. Far from soporific, though, the result is low-keyed entertainment of a very high level, and one of Orange County’s best-kept jazz secrets.

What a pleasure it was this week to hear the often combustive musician dampen the furnace at bit and let his mellifluous side take flight. Webb’s performance with keyboard player Tom Zink was replete with musicality and richness. Like John Coltrane, who is one of his idols, Webb has a worthwhile message to impart no matter what the medium.

The absence of bass and drums (Zink occasionally played walking bass on the piano and used a drum machine) allowed listeners to fully appreciate the vibrant quality of Webb’s modern and edgy yet singing sound. On his chief vehicle, the tenor saxophone (he also played soprano sax and flute), he achieved a fat, soothing tone in the low register and a bright, gleaming sound in the higher reaches.

Dressed in a green-tinged-with-gold suit and a black knit shirt, the slim, pony-tailed saxman (who has worked with Freddie Hubbard, Brian Bromberg and Billy Childs, among others) chose his selections with care. Among them: Bronoslav Kaper’s “Invitation,” Tadd Dameron’s “Gnid” and “If You Could See Me Now,” Carlos Santana’s “Europa,” Billy Strayhorn’s “Chelsea Bridge” and Thelonious Monk’s “Rhythm-A-Ning.”

The medium tempo “Gnid” (which Dameron wrote for Coltrane; it can be found on his classic Prestige records album “Mating Call” from 1956) found Webb offering the pretty melody mostly without ornamentation, keeping it close at hand, playing snatches of it and then weaving in spontaneous ideas: a sudden upward gush, a curving be-bop run, a phrase with which he would descended a few notes and then change directions willy-nilly, soaring to higher ground.

He artfully mixed melody with improvisation during Johnny Mandel’s “Emily” and the evergreen “Shadow of Your Smile,” when his soprano sound was haunting one moment, robust and forceful the next.

The Latin-funk ballad “Europa,” which was a pop hit for Gato Barbieri, found Webb opening up a bit more, emphasizing his rhythmic acumen and hitting high, gritty notes that were all the more compelling for their lack of overt volume. Zink, meanwhile, manned the drum machine and played electronic keyboards deftly, dropping in a solid mix of rhythmic and melodic statements.

Webb was most volatile during the fast “Rhythm-A-Ning,” offering a whirlwind solo with long garlands of notes, creating a sonic density that contrasted with his other numbers. Even then, though, he employed sufficient restraint that this muscular outing was not out of place with the rest of this subtle, first-class performance.

* Doug Webb plays Tuesdays from 7:30 to 11:30 p.m. at Bistango, 19100 Von Karman Ave., Irvine. No cover, no minimum. (714) 752-5222. Webb and his trio play Mondays from 8 to 11 p.m at Cafe Concerto, 171 E. 17th St., Costa Mesa. No cover, no minimum. (714) 642-8440.