Valley Weekend : JAZZ : Sound That Swings, Shimmies and Bops : Saxophonist Med Flory and his Big Name Band bring back tunes from earlier eras.

Saxophonist Med Flory has always had a thing for big bands.

“I had a band in high school, in the Army, in college and I had the first band that played at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1958,” said Flory, a very young 69.

Flory put his latest large ensemble together in 1992--after 20 years of fronting Supersax, that sax-heavy nonet that plays transcriptions of Charlie Parker solos. The group is called Med Flory and the Big Name Band featuring Supersax and the L.A. Voices. Its next performance is Tuesday at the Moonlight Tango Cafe in Sherman Oaks.

The Big Name Band harks back to earlier eras, and mixes swing and be-bop numbers. Flory heard Tommy Dorsey’s band when he was a teen-ager growing up in Indiana, and “while it wasn’t my favorite band, to me it was the best show band around,” said Flory, who now lives in North Hollywood. “It had Frank Sinatra, Jo Stafford, the Pied Pipers, Buddy Rich. That’s what I want with this band. I want people to come in and have a great time, get up and shake and shimmy if they want to, and hear great songs. Most of the tunes in the repertoire are back from those days.”

Listeners at the Moonlight can expect to hear such numbers as “Time After Time,” “I Hear a Rhapsody,” “Flying Home” and “Scrapple From the Apple” played by an all-star ensemble that includes saxophonists Flory, Ray Reed and Jack Nimitz, trumpeters Carl Saunders and Frank Szabo, trombonist Andy Martin, pianist Lou Levy, bassist Dave Carpenter and drummer Frank Capp. Supersax--simply the Big Name Band’s sax section--is also spotlighted, as are the L.A. Voices: Sue Raney, Melissa Mackay, Gene Merlino and Don Shelton.

“I get a thrill playing with these guys,” Flory said.

* Med Flory and the Big Name Band plays Tuesday, 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., at the Moonlight Tango Cafe, 13730 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. $13 cover for 7:30 p.m. show, $9 cover for 9:30 p.m., $9.95 food or drink minimum. (818) 788-2000.

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In the Mainstream Groove: Saxophonist Steve Wilkerson and his wife, singer and bassist Andrea Baker, both natives of Tulsa, Okla., come from diverse ethnic backgrounds. “I’m part Cherokee, Apache, Hispanic and Jewish and she’s Cherokee, French and Jewish. I guess you’d have to call us multicultural,” Wilkerson said with a laugh.

The two aren’t nearly so widespread in their musical tastes. “We play what you call ‘mainstream jazz,’ with such tunes from the be-bop and post-bop eras as ‘A Night in Tunisia,’ ” said Wilkerson, who with Baker holds forth at Chadney’s in Burbank on Friday.

The saxophonist who played with Stan Kenton’s band in 1975 says he likes be-bop selections because “they’re a challenge to pull off. Any time you play bop, you have to make it swing, and we swing as hard as we can.” At Chadney’s, the pair will be backed by pianist Marty Harris and drummer Frank Capp.

Baker has worked with Capp’s Juggernaut big band and is a regular with trumpeter Jack Sheldon’s orchestra. “She’s a subtle singer and she grabs people,” said her clearly biased husband. At Chadney’s, she’ll offer some ballads, those slow tunes which, as the sax man noted, “give people some kind of beauty and peace in a world gone mad.”

* Steve Wilkerson and Andrea Baker play Friday, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., at Chadney’s, 3000 W. Olive St., Burbank. No cover, no minimum. (818) 843-5333.

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Bassic Eastwood: About two years ago, bassist Kyle Eastwood began devoting his energies to an acoustic quartet, and his efforts are proving most rewarding. The musician, son of actor-director Clint Eastwood, is currently in negotiations with a major label that is interested in recording his band, a strong unit that features the wondrous saxophonist Doug Webb, as well as the fine pianist and drummer, Matt McQuire and Kendall Kay.

The band, which plays modern mainstream material with a hearty feel, is getting better, sparked by Webb’s compelling mix of lyricism and unbridled spirit. Eastwood, who has only been a professional musician for about five years, shows himself to be a serious student of jazz, offering firm rhythmic accompaniment with a fat sound and delivering solos that consistently improve over time. The quartet appears Wednesday and Sept. 20 and 27, 9 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., at Jax, 339 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale. No cover, no minimum. Call: (818) 500-1604.