Going From Scene to Heard : Members of Luscious Jackson Turn Nights Spent in New York Clubs Into a Sound of Their Own

Growing up in New York City, the future members of Luscious Jackson couldn’t help but absorb diverse musical influences as the young women hopped from club to club.

“Back in the early ‘80s, one night you would be at a hip-hop club, the next night you would be at a Bad Brains [punk] show, the next night you would be at a reggae club,” Luscious Jackson guitarist-vocalist Gabby Glaser reminisced. “There was just so much exposure to great stuff. It was a fantastic time for a young brain to be influenced by music.”

Tonight, Luscious Jackson brings its richly varied sounds to Galaxy Concert Theatre in Santa Ana.

It’s little wonder that Luscious Jackson’s “In Search of Manny” EP, the band’s 1992 debut disc, appeared to be a work that could only have arisen from the eclectic hustle and bustle of Manhattan. Mixing sharp hip-hop grooves and inventive samples with jazz, R&B;, pop and rock influences, the record drew immediate critical praise. In its 1994 debut full-length album, “Natural Ingredients,” the quartet honed and spit-shined its urban sound and groove.

Befitting a band with wide-ranging musical tastes, Luscious Jackson has altered its approach with its third and most recent disc, “Fever In Fever Out.” This time, the music is generally mellower and more traditionally structured than its harder-edged, sample-heavy songs from the past. Though most of the group’s previous songs represented collaborations between band co-founders Glaser and singer-guitarist Jill Cunniff, much of the new material was written solely by Cunniff.

“Jill did [write] a lot of the songs with guitar and vocals,” said Glaser, who first met Cunniff when they were wide-eyed teenagers exploring the New York City club scene. “It’s the way most people write songs. Before, we would jam or I would bring in music and she would write lyrics over them or we would get samples and write vocals over them.”

However, it would be a mistake to call “Fever In Fever Out” a conventional-sounding pop record. The material may be more reflective than combustive, but the musical details and influences are still varied. Folk, psychedelic, funk and jazz are among the elements that color some of the songs.

“Fever In Fever Out” represents the first time Luscious Jackson has teamed up with an outside producer. (Its first two discs were produced by the band, along with friend and collaborator Tony Mangurian, who also contributes to the new album.) Daniel Lanois, who is best known for his work with U2 and Peter Gabriel, was enlisted to help bring a new flavor to the Luscious Jackson sound.

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Group members decided to team up with Lanois because they shared a creative and personal compatibility. Plus, Glaser said, they admired the Quebec-born producer’s predilection for working in unorthodox places. “Fever In Fever Out” was recorded largely in drummer Kate Schellenbach’s small, Manhattan apartment. (It was, however, completed in a more spacious studio in New Orleans.)

Lanois also recruited country’s venerable Emmylou Harris to contribute vocals on three tracks on the album. Glaser calls this unlikely union “totally great.” Harris “has a beautiful voice,” Glaser continued. “She will sing along to anything. She just loves to sing.”

Glaser is disappointed, though, over her own diminished role in creating “Fever In Fever Out.”

“When you hire a producer and you have a lot of record company involvement, certain people do have to step up and certain people have to step back,” Glaser said. “You can’t keep piling people on and everyone still have the impact they did. I was one that did step back quite a bit.

“It’s basically about making a good concise record as opposed to keeping everyone happy. We did have songs [of mine] that were going to be on the record, but they just didn’t quite fit in.”

One of the songs that got trimmed was a Glaser track about the New York Knicks. A hoops fan and player, she wrote the song about a series of dreams she had about the pro basketball franchise. Glaser said the number just didn’t fit the album’s more somber, introspective mood.

But the song does fit the group’s moniker, which is a play on the name of ‘60s-era Philadelphia 76ers star Lucious “Luke” Jackson.

Glaser can’t help but yearn a little for the days when “In Search of Manny” was more spontaneously recorded, packaged and released on the Beastie Boy’s independent Grand Royal label. Now that the group, which also includes keyboardist Vivian Trimble, is signed to powerhouse Capitol Records, Luscious Jackson has to confer with more people in terms of its career decisions.

“Sometimes you really do miss the old days when you basically put out whatever you wanted to put out,” she said.

At the same time, Glaser is grateful for the active support the group has received from Capitol, which possesses the distribution and promotional clout independent labels can’t match.

“They’re really behind this record, and they really want us to do well, which is great,” she said.

But if the big hits and album sales don’t come, Glaser isn’t going to fret.

“I personally don’t worry about those things,” she said. “I can only speak for myself. I have a great deal of respect for bands who don’t have hit songs, like the Ramones, the Cramps and Iggy Pop. Like [Iggy Pop is] incredibly successful, but not in terms of a radio hit. There are a lot of bands that have this almost cult success.”

* Luscious Jackson and Eels perform tonight at the Galaxy Concert Theatre, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana. 8 p.m. $15.50-$17.50. (714) 957-0600.

* CONCERT REVIEW Band shows steamy, eclectic novelty. F8