JAZZ REVIEW : A Tuneful Tenorman

Rickey Woodard, whose quartet took charge Thursday at the Brasserie of the Bel Age Hotel, knows all the answers to the perennial question: How should the tenor saxophone really be played?

After decades of mauling, distortion and musical logorrhea threatened to destroy its essential beauty, the tenor sax has survived in the hands of men like Woodard, who know that a strong, consistent sound and continuity of ideas can cancel out the need for spurious effects.

It was evident from the first chorus of “In a Mellotone” that Woodard was in command and was equipped to remain so indefinitely. Ideas flowed from the horn without ever losing sight of the necessity to remain melodically inventive, and without resorting to fashionable freak notes or split tones.

There was a similar sense of authority in “The Night Has a Thousand Eyes”--the title song of a 1948 movie--a tune equipped with comfortable chord changes that Woodard, pianist Bill Henderson and bassist Jeff Littleton dealt with handily.

Woodard’s most melodic moments were reserved for “My One and Only Love,” a ballad recorded 40 years ago by Frank Sinatra. His ability to tackle the blues head on was well in evidence on “Red Top,” a Gene Ammons line that also found Henderson stretching out convincingly at the keyboard. The set ended with a Hank Mobley original that offered solo space to a fine drummer, Harold Mason.