JAZZ : Holiday Gig Returns on Smaller Scale

The Tony Guerrero Christmas Concert isn’t exactly an Orange County tradition on the order of “The Glory of Christmas,” but until last year, it was becoming a holiday highlight for lovers of contemporary jazz. Happily, after a year’s hiatus, the concert is back.

Don’t blame the Grinch for what happened to the 1993 edition of the annual fete, held at the Coach House in 1991 and ’92. Last year’s cancellation came when trumpeter-composer-producer Guerrero began to rethink the scale of those previous events, which had featured some 25 musicians for almost three hours.

“As much as I loved doing those shows, there was a problem doing them at a place as big as the Coach House,” says Guerrero, who will host this year’s Christmas concert on Sunday at the more intimate Cafe Concerto in Costa Mesa. “Even with a packed house, we couldn’t cover all the expenses. It didn’t make sense to try to do it as a charity event and put up the money and then not make anything.”

So, when the corporate support Guerrero sought for the ’93 concert fell through, he pulled the plug. But this year, he’s doing things differently.

“It’ll be on a much smaller scale this time,” Guerrero explains, “basically using my six-piece touring band with only a few guest artists scheduled to come by for a Christmas song or two.”

Also, the cost of admission includes a donation of canned food or a new or slightly used toy or article of clothing. The donations will be distributed by the Colonial Bible Church of Tustin.

The show will give Aliso Viejo resident Guerrero, seen occasionally in Orange County sitting in with various groups, a chance to do something he hasn’t done for the last two years: play a concert on his home turf with his own band. The members include guitarist Pat Kelly, bassist Dave Enos, keyboardist Tom Zink and Rippington’s saxophonist Jeff Kashiwa.

“I haven’t done any of my music in Orange County since the last Christmas show. So I’ll be pulling out tunes from my albums (Guerrero has three under his own name, the last being 1991’s “Another Day, Another Dream”) and bringing in some of my new material as well.”

Guerrero, who just signed with Fahrenheit Records to release a new album next year, will welcome both his wife, Kelly Rae, and sister, Crissy Shumaker, to sing holiday numbers with the band. Also scheduled to make a guest appearance is guitarist Lanny Cordola, with whom Guerrero just finished a straight-ahead jazz trio album for Frontline Records called “The Trinity Sessions.”

The trumpeter has also done recent sessions with Brazilian keyboardist Marcos Ariel and for the TV sitcom “Full House.” He’s also been producing sessions, notably for the rock band Meadow Suite, which he describes as “just your normal, L.A. garage band.” And he’ll produce an upcoming gospel date that will include much of his own material.

But right now, it’s the Christmas concert that occupies his mind.

“I want to focus on my music and give my musicians a chance to show what they can do,” he said. “Anyone who wants to hear good musicianship will hear it. These guys are some of the best around.”

* What: The Tony Guerrero Christmas Concert.

* When: Sunday, Dec. 11, at 7:30 p.m.

* Where: Cafe Concerto, 2675 Irvine Ave., Costa Mesa.

* Whereabouts: Take the Corona del Mar (73) Freeway to the Campus Drive/Irvine Avenue exit. Go right on Irvine Avenue and head south to intersection of Mesa Drive.

* Wherewithal: $10 at the door, plus a donation of canned food or new or slightly used clothing or toys. Reserved seating with dinner reservations only.

* Where to call: (714) 642-8440.