JAZZ REVIEW : Old--but High--Standards From St. Marseille

Sunday’s appearance of the Dan St. Marseille Quintet at Alexander’s (formerly the Dana Point Cafe) was billed as an album release party, and as you might expect, there was lots of schmoozing, toasts, autographs, dedications and, of course, endless plugs for Marseille’s freshly minted “Long Ago and Far Away” CD. In between it all, the saxophonist and his group found time to play some music.

No stranger to the venue--Marseille and company appear here on the last Sunday of each month--the band seemed relaxed both on and off the stage. But the group made its biggest impression on the bandstand, overlooking the restaurant’s patio and an overflow crowd.

Marseille’s band--trumpeter Larry Gillespie, pianist Cecilia Coleman, bassist Ernie Nunez and drummer Denny Dennis--is an unabashedly mainstream unit, an ensemble that digs into an old standard with all the relish of a kid digging into an ice-cream sundae.

This appetite for the material is apparent when the quintet plays, and it gives their performances an air of respect as well as a feeling of devotional zeal.

If straight-ahead jazz lives on through the 21st Century, it will be because such groups as St. Marseille’s have preserved not only the charts but the original spirit of the music, too.

The group’s brief first set opened with “Things Ain’t What They Use to Be,” given a predictably upbeat reading, with St. Marseille’s tenor rolling through a cogent, if not ambitious, solo. Gillespie’s trumpet made for a fine contrast, his short, punchy accents balancing the saxophonist’s longer, more melodic offerings.

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Coleman, who earlier in the weekend had backed saxophone giant Lee Konitz at the Hyatt Newporter, emerged as the group’s most satisfying improviser. The pianist ran a dual track of lyrical and harmonic interest, her singing righthand lines alternating with rich chordal passages. Her involving ways on “Things” set a standard for the rest of the evening.

The group moved on to a less-familiar number, “I’ll Close My Eyes,” played with an insistent bossa nova beat that framed Gillsepie’s linear fluegelhorn lines. St. Marseille countered with longer lines, played at a fleet pace that worked nicely against the rhythmic flow.

“Claxography,” St. Marseille’s tribute to jazz photographer William Claxton, who took the photos for the new CD, was an uptempo be-bop styled line utilizing the “I’ve Got Rhythm” chord changes.

The rhythm section swung hard while the horns bopped on top, the two styles coming together in a harmonious blend. St. Marseille used the piece to give his most syncopated solo, delivered in strong, talkin’-to-ya tones.

Gillespie even put down his horn to croon “I’ll Remember April,” in the same gentle, Chet Baker-inspired style that he uses on the new album. Gillespie’s intimate, quiet delivery is especially appropriate for this kind of material and his scat delivery, if not well-pitched, was rhythmically pleasing.

St. Marseille was featured on “Polka Dots and Moonbeams,” and his unaccompanied introduction to the tune was filled with breathy tones and some of Zoot Sims’ astuteness.

Never one to make cheap appeals to emotion, the saxophonist let the melody speak for itself before offering a series of variations that were every bit as melodic as the theme. Ending the tune as he began it--alone--St. Marseille created a round, soft pillow of sound for things to land on. It was one of the night’s most beautiful moments.