Sonny Simmons Uneasy in the Mainstream

Alto saxophonist Sonny Simmons was one of the most engaging of the Ornette Coleman-influenced musicians of the 1960s, working frequently with flutist Prince Lasha and recording with Eric Dolphy and Elvin Jones.

But by the 1970s, Simmons had largely dropped out of sight, after a brief musical and personal partnership with trumpeter Barbara Donald. Reportedly, he was heard from time to time in the ‘80s, playing in the streets of San Francisco.

He reemerged in 1992 with “Ancient Ritual” (Warner Bros.) and has been heard in festivals and clubs ever since. On Wednesday, he opened a four-day run with his quartet at the Jazz Bakery (the original Tuesday opening was reduced to a duet with drummer Roy McCurdy as the result of a scheduling confusion).

Simmons’ avant-garde style, a blending of vocalized cries, pan-chromatic runs and loose, floating, blues-inflected articulation, was an effective voice for his ‘60s work. It is less convincing as an expressive means for more straight-ahead playing. Backed by a strong rhythm section--McCurdy, bassist Tony Dumas and pianist Nate Morgan--Simmons had the kind of support that might have made for an effective improvisational set. His own playing, however, never quite managed to jell with the work of the other musicians, in part because of a fundamental difference in musical perception.

He risked a run through “My Favorite Things,” a tune dominated by memories of John Coltrane’s classic renderings, and failed to imprint it with his own personality. A blues number was approached with some effective vocalized cries, but was undercut whenever Simmons attempted to carve out straight-ahead bebop lines--a problem that also emerges on his new Qwest recording, “American Jungle.”

A natural player, a kind of jazz Rousseau, Simmons has the capacity to bring a kind of gut-level primitivism to the improvisational process that can be emotionally gripping. But he loses his way when he attempts to move into the jazz mainstream.

* The Sonny Simmons Quartet at the Jazz Bakery through Sunday. 3233 Helms Ave., Culver City. (310) 271-9039. $20 admission tonight and Saturday, 8:30 p.m. $18 admission tonight and Saturday, 10:15 p.m.