Sidemen Take Center Stage for Benefit

An unusual kind of jazz event, in which the music is presented to generate funding for a beneficial cause, takes place tonight and Sunday at the Hermosa Civic Theatre. Super-sidemen pianists Kenny Barron and Barry Harris, accompanied by bassist Buster Williams and drummer Ben Riley, will perform in a concert benefiting the Wellness Community of South Bay. Although the musicians will be paid, the program expects to generate important revenues for the nonprofit organization, which provides free psychological and social support for cancer patients and family members as part of their medical treatment.

The program, according to producer Paul Winkler, represents a “new and exciting approach to fund-raising--a world-class jazz concert featuring two of the greatest jazz pianists in the world.” Winkler is hopeful that the event will serve as a model for future fund-raising efforts.

“We feel,” he says, “that the target audience for performances of this sort is an audience that is receptive and generous. And, if this program is as successful as I hope it will be, we will talk to other Wellness Community organizations about doing similar events.” Information: (310) 546-3925.

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Jazz in the Apple: Ojai resident Maynard Ferguson takes off for New York City next week with his Big Bop Nouveau Band to participate in the grand reopening of Birdland, the club once identified as “The Jazz Corner of the World,” on Wednesday. The original venue at Broadway and 52nd Street, named after Charlie “Bird” Parker, bore an inscription over the entryway that read, “Through these portals pass the most.”

The reincarnated Birdland is in the old Hell’s Kitchen section of Manhattan, just west of 8th Avenue, at 315 W. 44th St. It includes a full dining room and a bar area, with a stage large enough to present big bands, and a kitchen that is, according to host-proprietor John Valenti, “adept at preparing the best burgers as well as the finest gourmet dishes.”

Trumpeter and bandleader Ferguson’s role in the launch is especially appropriate, since his Birdland Dream Band gigs at the club in the mid-’50s represented one of the precursors of the now-traditional big-band Monday night jazz programs.

Another West Coast jazz figure will be honored the following night at Carnegie Hall, when the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band opens its 1996-97 season with “Eastwood: After Hours, a Night of Jazz,” a tribute to Hollywood’s dedicated jazz fan, actor-director Clint Eastwood. The evening will feature a suite by Lennie Niehaus titled “Eastwood: After Hours” and a lineup of all-stars that includes saxophonists Joshua Redman, James Moody and James Carter; bassist Christian McBride; trumpeter Roy Hargrove; pianists Kenny Barron and Barry Harris; vocalist Kevin Mahogany; and bassist Kyle Eastwood. The concert will be videotaped and recorded by Clint Eastwood’s Malpaso Productions and Malpaso Records for later release.

Around Town: Kenny Burrell’s Jazz Heritage All-Stars appearance Friday and next Saturday is the highlight event of the Jazz Bakery’s Concord Records week celebration (with a party for the release of Burrell’s new CD, “Live at the Blue Note,” after Saturday’s second set).

In other venues, Kleber Jorge, guitarist with Sergio Mendes, sings and plays his jazz-tinged Brazilian numbers at La Ve Lee in Studio City tonight. . . . Dave Brubeck’s Quartet returns to Pepperdine for an afternoon concert at the Smothers Theatre on Sunday. . . . The B Sharp Jazz Quartet, a Southland group with growing national visibility, starts a six-night run at Catalina Bar & Grill on Tuesday. . . . And the talented young saxophonist Zane Musa is at Lunaria with his quartet on Wednesday.

Free Music: It’s well worth making a trek to Alhambra today for a free performance by the superb pianist-composer Alan Broadbent, with bassist Putter Smith and drummer Joe LaBarbera at Pedrini Music. The music starts at 2 p.m. Information: (213) 283-1932.