VALLEY WEEKEND : SOUNDS : Penland Plays to the Beat of His Own Drum : Leader of the Penland Polygon brings a multifaceted approach to jazz to Sherman Oaks.

Ralph Penland’s life in music has been the stuff of dreams. Just look at some of the masters the drummer’s worked with: Frank Sinatra, Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, Nancy Wilson, Stan Getz, Hubert Laws, Dianne Reeves and Carlos Santana.

Ask Penland to pick a favorite and he courteously declines. But he will admit that three of his best jobs were appearing in the trio of piano giant Hancock in 1993-94, and tours in 1991 with Latin-rock-blues guitarist Santana and the one and only Sinatra.

Class acts all, but musically about as disparate as a Ferrari and a thoroughbred racehorse. That diversity is a major reason why Penland enjoyed those “situations come true.” He brings a similar breadth to his band, the Penland Polygon.

“I like dealing with many different sides of music,” said Penland, who leads the Polygon on Friday and Saturday at Bjlauzezs in Sherman Oaks. “The bulk of my music is acoustic, straight-ahead jazz, but I also like fusion, funk, calypso. I’m always trying to expand.”

Penland said his brand of straight-ahead jazz is very personal. “So many groups have that ad-hoc approach, playing music that’s the most convenient to the moment. But I’m trying to create a different energy, something original that’s mine,” he said.

His efforts seem to be paying off. The Polygon, which currently is made up of Charles Moore (trumpet), Gerald Pinter (saxes), Greg Kurstin (piano) and either Bob Hurst or Tony Dumas (bass), just returned from New York. There, Penland led the band in the finals of the Hennessy Cognac Jazz Search, placing second and winning a $5,000 prize.

“We played about a 30-minute set at the Bottom Line and it felt great,” he said. “The band was very relaxed, very focused.”

At Bjlauzezs, Penland will offer about “70% originals that I have arranged, and the rest are either tunes by the other members, or standards.”

Penland, who has lived in the Los Angeles area since 1975, grew up in Cincinnati in a music scene that established the groundwork for all he does today. “I played jazz, funk, I was in the Cincinnati Symphony, I played in marching bands,” he said. “It was an enriching experience.”

In the early ‘70s, Penland moved to Boston, traveling often to New York City, where he joined Hubbard for an “extraordinary” two years.

Music has shaped Penland’s life, he said. “I’ve had a chance to travel around the world several times, see the universal healing effect of music,” he said. “Music doesn’t argue. It’s not violent. It’s beautiful.”

* Ralph Penland’s Polygon plays Friday and Saturday, 9 p.m.-2 a.m., at Bjlauzezs, 14502 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. $5 cover without dinner. (818) 789-4583.

King Quartet: Listen to even a few moments of saxophonist Bobby King’s new “Inside the Outer Kingdom” CD on Del-Fi Records and you hear compelling, melodic phrases and angular, chaotic lines. In clubs, King sometimes augments this brew by singing a phrase, then playing one on his horn.

King, who has a Ph.D. in composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, thrives on eccentricity in his music and performing style. “I was born in L.A., but I tell people I’m from Mars, because I’m outside, I’m different,” he said. “I’m trying to create a new type of music, mixing my hard-driving East Coast jazz style with elements of classical and world music.”

The musician appears Sunday at the Baked Potato, and Wednesdays and Thursdays at the Money Tree--both in North Hollywood. King, 58, has worked with many of the best--Stan Kenton, Maynard Ferguson, Philly Joe Jones--but said he was “born to be different. I don’t want to be in the norm. It’s boring.”

King’s music certainly is not, though it’s not for everyone. There is a sincerity in what he plays that’s obvious and appealing. “I’m really happy when I’m playing the horn for an audience,” he said. “Music moves the human soul, it reaches the inner part of a person, and I like to have that kind of impact with listeners.”

* Bobby King’s quartet plays Sunday, 9 p.m.-1 a.m. at the Baked Potato, 3787 Cahuenga Blvd., North Hollywood. $10 cover, two-drink minimum. Information: (818) 980-1615. King also plays Wednesdays and Thursdays, 9 p.m.-1:30 a.m., at the Money Tree, 10149 Riverside Drive, North Hollywood. No cover, no minimum. (818) 769-8800.