JAZZ REVIEWS : Elliot’s ‘Singing’ on Saxophone Touches the Soul

Next to the human voice, the tenor saxophone has been the instrument of choice for creating rhythm-and-blues statements that touch the soul. And few have used the instrument as slickly for that purpose as one-time Tower of Power horn man Richard Elliot.

There were any number of times Friday at the Coach House that Elliot’s playing invited comparisons with vocalists. He could be warm and intimate in the manner of Lou Rawls, light and airy like Smokey Robinson or sharp and pained like Percy Sledge. The more involved musical possibilities of his instrument were secondary. Elliot had come to sing.

So it figures that his best efforts came on familiar tunes whose lyrics came to mind as the curly-haired saxophonist crooned them on his horn. He brought few embellishments to “When a Man Loves a Woman,” letting his throaty tones carry the song’s emotion before expanding the ballad’s volume and intensity with harder and more insistent lines. He was reserved and thoughtful during “I’m Not in Love,” letting the melody speak simply while adding few innovations of his own.

Otherwise, unfortunately, Elliot’s 100-minute set was a wash of repetitious backbeat and other undemanding settings. Maybe that’s why the pop numbers, like a lone cottonwood on an endless prairie, stood out so boldly in his set: They were displayed against a rhythmic landscape that contained little variation.

Playing a patriotically colored saxophone complete with a blue-painted bell spotted with stars, Elliot milked each rhythmic formula of its emotion with considered dynamic builds, pointed, high-end exclamations and tones designed to imitate the human voice. That he seldom overdid these pitches to his audience, a claim few of his colleagues in this genre can make, was overshadowed by occasional stage antics that were well-received, but added little to his musical delivery.

Playing to the crowd, he rushed from one corner of the stage to another, sticking the mouth of his instrument into some lucky listener’s ear. He was down on his knees during the most plaintive passages from “When a Man Loves a Woman,” posing like a dumbstruck lover proposing marriage even though he’s been spurned.

And, in what has become the most tiresome cliche since remote microphone systems have come into use, Elliot roamed the aisles and played from atop a dinner table, an act that, while memorable on its own--he’s light and quick, almost athletic, in his moves--provided little audible satisfaction.

The variations that did arrive came in the form of tropical rhythms and sound effects. The salsa-paced “Calle Del Sol,” from his seventh and most recent recording for the Manhattan label, seemed to inspire his playing and he delivered fleet, somewhat complex lines that showed him capable of moving from the mundane into attractively detailed passages. “Deep Blue,” a piece inspired by a swim with dolphins, opened with sea mammal cries and the airy sounds of blowholes being cleared.

But his most soulful treatment came during the most familiar tune, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” which he played in tandem with keyboardist Ron Reinhardt. His interpretation was clean and to the point, while hugging the melody in a heartfelt embrace. It was one of the few times that Elliot gave the notion that what he felt was real, rather than contrived.

His supporting quartet--Reinhardt, his brother and drummer Dave Reinhardt, bassist Naoki Yanai and excellent guitarist Richard Smith--provided exceptionally tight backing and the occasional sharp, but short solo. Smith was the standout, often upstaging his boss in complexity and sonic enthusiasm when featured, rifling through crisp chords in accompaniment. There were a number of times that the foursome was called on to provide dramatic breaks and they delivered as if they were a single instrument. With more ambitious material, this is a group that could shine.

The opening act, Naked To the World, 1993 winners of the National Academy of Songwriters’ Acoustic Band of the Year award, applied ambitious lyrics of some poetic quality to a short set of mostly waltz rhythms constructed with guitars, violin, quiet percussion and mandolin.

Vocalist Kevin Fisher’s delivery was suitably warm and impassioned but the group’s brightest light was violinist Daryl S, whose fine leads and bowed embellishments added emotional depth and beauty to these finely crafted songs.