Sample’s in Fine Form After Rough Times

Pianist Joe Sample is at the top of his game--finally.

He says his new Warner Bros. album “Old Places, Old Faces,” is his best, adding that the collection of easy-on-the-ear, rhythmically dynamic originals is “a perfect blend of my musics, which are jazz, rhythm and blues, gospel, Latin and classical. I have never before been able to capture them all in one place.”

But this success hasn’t come without a series of arduous struggles for Sample, 57, who plays Wednesday through Sunday at Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood in his trio, which includes Jay Anderson (bass) and Lennie Castro (percussion, drums).

In the late ‘70s, the Crusaders (formerly the Jazz Crusaders)--which Sample, Wayne Henderson, Wilton Felder and Stix Hooper founded in their hometown of Houston in the mid-’50s--began a breakup that was finalized several years later. Then Sample had a six-year battle with the Epstein-Barr virus that left him “feeling like I had the flu every day.” Then a coronary problem surfaced in 1994, resulting in several heart attacks, angioplasty and bypass surgery.

Sample is in prime musical and physical form. “So far, things are looking wonderful. I feel better and stronger than ever,” he says. “And to play this music with this trio is a dream. In Jay, I have finally found an acoustic bassist who understands my music, who can follow all my musical concepts and plus handle all the rhythms.”

And not having a regular trap drummer is freeing Sample in unexpected ways. “Lennie is a percussionist who also uses drums, and because of that, we can go in numerous directions and rhythmic feelings.

“I finally see that you don’t need a drum set to groove, and the music doesn’t have to be loud to have the impact of a big band.”

Information: (213) 466-2210.

New Start: When saxophonist Kirk Whalum signed on to the “Guitars & Saxes & More” national tour with Marc Antoine and Peter White (the guitars) and trumpeter Rick Braun (the more), he admits he had a chip on his shoulder.

Whalum’s background was in jazz--he’s played with Bob James and Joe Zawinul and cites Gene Ammons and Hank Crawford as primary influences--while most of the other members of the group drew more on pop, rock and Latin (except Braun, who cites jazzman Chet Baker as a source). He wondered how they’d fit together.

The tour, which started in early February and appears tonight at the Pantages Theatre and again March 30 at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, has given Whalum a lesson in humility. “I’m the veteran with 11 years in the business, and yet they’re the ones that have the big audience,” he says. “I’m being introduced to a whole new demographic, people that like Peter and Ottmar Liebert and Yanni, so this is doing me nothing but good.”

Each artist plays tunes from their respectively successful albums, which include Braun’s contemporary jazz hit “Beat Street,” Antoine’s “Urban Gypsy,” White’s “Reflections” and Whalum’s “In This Life.” They also jam together. Information: (213) 468-1770.

Java Jazz: Ensembles from Cal Arts in Valencia and UC Irvine are appearing at Starbucks coffeehouses around the Southland today and March 23. From 1 to 4 p.m., Cal Arts students will play in West Covina, (818) 917-7019; Ventura, (805) 654-8463; and Santa Barbara, (805) 962-0173. UC Irvine students play in Irvine, (714) 854-2301, and Long Beach, (310) 987-5043, at the same time. From 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. there will be performances by Cal Arts ensembles in Toluca Lake, (818) 557-6604, and at the Beverly Connection, (310) 289-7815. Starbucks is supporting the schools’ jazz programs with educational grants.

The free performances are also to promote Starbucks’ Blue Note coffee blend, and the coffee company’s latest CD “Blue Note Blend 2,” an anthology that features Art Blakey, Nat King Cole, Holly Cole, Lee Morgan and Jacky Terrason, among others. The CD sells for $9.95.