Mr. T Keeps ‘Sugar,’ a Little Blues in the Mix

Most jazz listeners associate the passionate tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine with two things: his expansive, golden-hued tone and his funky, foot-tapping song “Sugar.”

Turrentine, who has had numerous solid-selling albums, practiced hard to develop that tone, but “Sugar,” the title track of a 1970 album on CTI Records, came about as an afterthought.

“Producer Creed Taylor told me near the end of the recording session, which took place at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., that I needed one more song to complete the album,” Turrentine recalled.

“So I just thought up the song, showed it to the players, and we recorded it right there on the spot. It turned out to be a classic,” said Turrentine, who plays Saturday at Birdland West in Long Beach. “That’s why I love jazz,” Turrentine said with a laugh, referring to the built-in spontaneity of the musical form.

“Caravan,” a 15-minute selection from the saxophonist’s new “If I Could” album on Musicmasters, came about in a similar off-the-cuff manner. “I said, ‘Hey, let’s play “Caravan,” ’ and we did it in one take,” he said.

“If I Could,” which spotlights flutist Hubert Laws and bassist Ron Carter and contains a few tunes with lush orchestrations provided by Don Sebesky, seems more geared toward a general audience than his previous album, a straight-ahead project called “More Than a Mood,” which featured Freddie Hubbard and Cedar Walton. The saxophonist bristled at the assumption.

“I have a problem with people categorizing me,” he said. “I play what I hear. I try to play within the context of the song, call it rock, soul, straight-ahead. I like songs, and I like melodies, and I feel I’ve always played the way I do. I can’t play any other way.”

Turrentine softened when he began to talk about his approach. “Oh, the blues is in almost everything I play,” he chuckled. “If I can stick in one of my blues licks on a tune, I do it. I think I got this from playing in R&B; bands around Pittsburgh, and also from the fact that we lived next door to a Baptist church. That gospel music used to put me to sleep every night. I love it.”

The saxophonist appears at Birdland West with a top-notch band, including regulars Kei Akagi, piano; Dave Stryker, guitar; Mark Johnson, drums and bassist Charles Fambrough. Turrentine said that he’ll offer a wide range of numbers, including “Sugar” and his other big hit, “Don’t Mess with Mr. T.”

Though success has been Turrentine’s for years, peace of mind has come to him only recently. “I used to always be trying to prove things, prove to people who I was. Now I just play,” he said. “Even though I was successful, I still didn’t feel comfortable with myself. But today, since I am in good health, I do.”

Critic’s Choices: Anita O’Day, whose voice is down a notch or two from her prime but whose spirit and time-feeling remain extraordinary, works Saturday at the no-cover-charge Club Brasserie at the Bel Age Hotel in West Hollywood. . . . Sax man Benn Clatworthy, trumpeter Tony Lujan and keyboardist Ottmaro Ruiz are in charge of a Latin/jazz quintet blowing off steam every Tuesday at J.P.’s Lounge.