Jazz Review : Marienthal Overshadowed on ‘Street’ : * ERIC MARIENTHAL,”Street Dance”, <i> GRP</i>

Marienthal is a saxophonist based in Orange County, best known for his stint with keyboard player Chick Corea’s band, an association that has defined much of his previous solo work. On “Street Dance,” he teams with popular fusion keyboardist Jeff Lorber, and Lorber’s influence dominates the recording, giving it a decidedly different feel.

It’s not the first time Marienthal has employed Lorber in the studio (they also played together on 1990’s “Crossroads”). But for this outing, Lorber and Marienthal wrote all but two of the 10 tracks (the exceptions being the Lorber-Mic Murphy number “Forces of Nature” and Phil Collins’ “Hold on My Heart”). With Lorber playing synthesizers and doing the percussion programming, it’s no surprise that the disc has the compositional flavor and beat-minded direction of Lorber’s own.

That doesn’t mean Marienthal is missing in action. He is one of the most expressive saxophonists on the contemporary scene, and his frisky attack and sincere sense of joy, especially on alto, make even the blandest material come alive. On soprano, he plays rounded, translucent tones of the sort that make Kenny G’s seem thin and weightless. And Marienthal is a man of ideas: You can sense the narrative flow in his all-too-brief solos. They’re not just some contrived strings of notes designed to assume a cocky posture.

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Still, “Street Dance” is crippled by its predictable program of pop-beat tunes and ballads. Though executed in tight fashion by a rhythm section that includes guitarist Paul Jackson Jr., bassist Nathaniel Phillips, drummer John Robinson and percussionist Paulinho Da Costa, the tunes offer little surprise and only a few moments that stray from the same-old fusion agenda.

The exceptions, though, make this an album worth having. “Moment of Silence,” with Leroy Osbourne singing Lorraine Feather’s melancholy lyric, features Marienthal’s tasteful soprano embellishments. The title tune’s minor-key theme gives the sax a chance to display some heavy emotion, while “Yosemite” is suitably grand and sweeping. Both present Marienthal in the cut-loose mode that makes his infrequent straight-ahead sessions at Newport Beach’s Studio Cafe unforgettable experiences (he’ll be there tonight).

The best cuts are “Fafaru,” a Caribbean-paced dance number that features Marienthal’s soprano melding with guest Gary Burton’s vibraphone, and the Phil Collins number, which--through the magic of overdub--finds the saxophonist exchanging alto and soprano lines with himself.

In terms of his own play, Marienthal’s “Street Dance” is his best solo recording yet and should please his fans immensely. But it’s still not the first-rate album we know he is capable of making.

* Eric Marienthal plays tonight at the Studio Cafe, 100 S. Main St., Newport Beach. 9 p.m. Free. (714) 675-7760. Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). Hear Eric Marienthal: * To hear a sample of the album “Street Dance,” call TimesLine at 808-8463 and press * 5570.

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