Straight-Ahead Jazz in an Offbeat Setting : Kikuya Restaurant in Huntington Beach Offers a Steady Menu of Top Performers

It’s the kind of up-close and personal jazz gig music fans like best:

* The respected pianist with a host of big-name credits--including a spot in arguably the most-famous television house band of all time--joins the venue’s regular trio for a night of standards. The setting is so intimate that when the keyboardist cracks one of his trademark smiles you can literally count his teeth.

* Or the saxophonist/flutist with historic ties to such late greats as Charles Mingus and Eric Dolphy, as well as being a West Coast legend in his own right, stands toe-to-toe with the audience. When he picks up his flute, the assembled can literally see his lip quiver as he sustains a bright, clear tone.

The house trio that backs these guests is no slouch, either. The guitarist-leader has a couple of fine CDs out, one of which includes the likes of bassist Ray Brown and drummer Jake Hanna. The bassist is a swell composer, lyricist and leader who can pull a big sound out of his upright. The drummer has a list of credits you can’t beat with a stick.

Don’t look now, but straight-ahead jazz, all but extinct in Orange County this year, is staging a small but important comeback. The setting is an unlikely one: the lounge of Kikuya Japanese Restaurant in Huntington Beach. But there, three nights each week, wafting through the air along with the smells of frying tempura and chicken teriyaki, is the sound of jazz.

The place has a real nightclub feel with its black walls and spotlighted bandstand. Behind the musicians, the wall is lined with mirrors that throw reflections into the adjoining bar. A booth along the back wall is elevated so patrons can see over those sitting in front. A glossy black grand piano separates the band from the bar.

General manager Wayne Y. Chin has been looking to increase business at the restaurant with entertainment since it opened in 1993.

“We had the piano from the beginning, but it took us a while to get the entertainment license. I started putting jazz in right away (after getting the entertainment license) in March. I tried (house band leader) Doug MacDonald out after (singer) Jack Wood introduced us last spring, then used him again in August. He’s been doing the weekends since the first of October, as long as he’s not previously engaged. And Jack does the Thursdays.”

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MacDonald has brought in the biggest names, including the aforementioned former “Tonight Show” pianist Ross Tompkins and saxophonist Buddy Collette. Other headliners include singer Stephanie Haynes and saxophonist-flutist Sam Most.

“I’ve tried to bring in some of the better-known L.A. musicians,” MacDonald said, “as well as some of the talented locals from the Orange County area. It’s a balancing act, but I just want to make sure we’re representing good jazz music.”

Wood modeled his Thursday night jazz party after the one Larry Ober holds weekly at the Laguna Niguel Holiday Inn.

“But in my case, I rotate the piano players and let the trio do a short set. Then, after a break, I come out and do a set, all standards, straight-ahead.”

Wood adds to the room’s atmosphere Thursdays by bringing in his own sound system and lighting. Then, after his set, he welcomes guests in a jam session atmosphere (“all professionals,” he emphasizes).

Pianists have included Joe Massimino, Mike Jordan and Marc LeBrun. Vocalist Micki Rhyne, who makes frequent appearances at Merv Griffin’s Resorts International Hotel in Atlantic City, was in earlier this month, and local favorite Shelley Moore has also dropped by. Most weeks, local favorite Josie Courreges is a guest. (She spent the years around 1970 appearing with guitarist Hayden Causey’s group at Don Jose’s restaurant, just down the street from Kikuya.)

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Other nights of the week at Kikuya have belonged to karaoke (Tuesday), classic rock and top 40 (Wednesday) and a Hawaiian night with Polynesian dancers and music (Sunday), but the restaurant is looking to turn both Wednesdays and Sundays over to jazz in January. Mondays are the only nights without entertainment.

Chin says he’s been looking for the right mix since he began to hire entertainment.

“I want a blend (of entertainment) so I can cater to a wide group of customers. I want to bring in some contemporary music, some Latin, some fusion. The younger customers aren’t always into straight-ahead music. So I’m still trying to figure out what really works in the area.”

Jack Prather, the bassist in MacDonald’s trio and leader of the popular Southern California band Bopsicle, which appeared there recently says it’s hard for any venue to get a jazz program established. He recently saw Bopsicle’s regular Sunday engagement at the Capo Beach Steak House canceled, though two recent tributes to songwriters George Gershwin and Cole Porter, both organized with singer Dewey Erney and held at DeMario’s, were moderately successful.

“I think that jazz in Orange County, because of the rising economic situation, is just a micro-smidgen better than it was last year at this time,” he said, “but I don’t see any great changes. Club owners really have to get behind promotion, and take advantage of the local media and get the word out.”

Prather, and other musicians interviewed for this article, stressed that restaurant owners must show patience while the music policy is established.

“These things don’t catch on overnight,” say Prather. “It takes time to build an audience.”

Adds MacDonald: “I’d like to see Kikuya become a neighborhood kind of place, a place where people in the local Huntington Beach area can show up on any weekend night and know that, no matter who is working there, they’re going to see first-rate jazz. If we have to draw people from all over Orange County to fill the room, we’re not going to make it.”

So far, Chin reports only mixed success at Kikuya.

“We had singer Carol Rogers (from the Sergio Mendes band) one weekend and it was empty. It was also very quiet when Sam Most and Buddy Collette were here. But things seem to be getting better now that we’ve had some notice.”

Chin is looking forward to having in saxophonist Jeff Kashiwa (from fusion band The Rippingtons) on Dec. 29 with Wood and pianist Mike Jordan, hoping that Kashiwa’s appearance will attract a younger audience to join his regulars.

“I don’t know if the younger listeners know who people like Buddy Collette and Sam Most are. I’m going to stick with it, but I have to do something to make up the difference. Maybe we’ll consider charging a cover. But not for now.”

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Still, bookings look promising. MacDonald plans to lead a nine-piece brass ensemble with tuba, French horn, trombone and two trumpets in both jazz and seasonal music this Friday and Saturday. And Alan Broadbent, known for his work in Charlie Haden’s Quartet West, has agreed to a date in January, a rare treat indeed.

Booking jazz into a restaurant has always been a risky business, and the past few years have seen more than a few venues either close their doors to jazz or just plain close. The last 18 months have seen the closing the of Cafe Lido in Newport Beach as well as the discontinuation of jazz at Vinnie’s Restaurant in Costa Mesa and Maxwell’s in Huntington Beach. Even Chin, who doesn’t levy a cover charge, isn’t overly optimistic.

“Right now, I’m not breaking even (on the music). Some people think they can come in and listen to jazz and just have a glass of water. That’s fine, but it doesn’t pay for it. I’m still keeping an eye on things to see how it goes.”

* Kikuya is at 8052 Adams Ave., Huntington Beach. Jazz begins Thursday-Saturday at 8 p.m. No cover. (714) 536-6665.