Ear for Learning : Innovative jazzman borrows sounds of other genres to aid improvising skills.

The gifted, soft-spoken Jeff Elliott is a jazzman at heart. And there are times--tonight’s appearance at Chadney’s in Burbank, for one, or next week’s brief tour with pianist-singer Les McCann--when he makes his living doing what he loves.

Mostly, though, Elliott works as a hired gun. He’s usually traveling the highways and byways of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, arriving at this joint or that to provide stimulating sounds that bandleaders need.

“I’m a nightclub musician,” said the trumpeter-keyboardist. “Last month, I worked 20 different jobs at 20 different venues.”

You might guess that the Santa Barbara-based artist, who also has a home in Woodland Hills, is a versatile guy, and you’d be right. Among the styles of music he’s played are jazz, pop, R&B;, Latin, country and blues. And while Elliott would prefer to earn his dollars either as a touring jazzman or a studio player, that’s not happening right now, so he finds a way to be happy with what he’s got.

“What I do, with all the driving, is a little bit hard,” said Elliott, who celebrates his 45th birthday Friday. “But there’s all the variety. I don’t have to play in one bag, and I learn a lot of music. And playing keyboards as well as trumpet enhances my musicality to play different things. Before I was just a jazz trumpeter looking for work.”

To Elliott, it doesn’t matter if he’s playing with an R&B; singer like Teresa Russell, or in a country group like the John James Band, or working in Latin-based duos with guitarist Randy Madron--his jazz world is widened. “The sounds of other cultures, other music, help my improvising skills,” he said. “Like there might be a lick that comes from a pop song that has a blues feeling, but it’s a different blues than in jazz. Still, I can play it in certain places in jazz and it really works well.”

To be sure, Elliott will be glad to play a gig at Chadney’s, where his quartet will include the fine pianist Theo Saunders. The Covina native, who took up trumpet at age 10 and is basically self-taught, will play classics he grew up with, such as Johnny Mandel’s “Tommyhawk,” which Chet Baker recorded, and more jazz-fusion originals.

“I’m not a jazz purist,” he said. “I like a more soulful kind of jazz, like Les McCann or Ramsey Lewis. But I also like Chet and Clifford Brown. I don’t see myself as ever getting to the highest echelon of jazz. Rather, I’d like to come up with new and different sounds and music.” Elliott said that like his mentor, the innovative saxophonist and inventor Eddie Harris, he is a crossover artist.

Elliott, who lives with his wife, Ann, and their son, Paul, 17, is one of those fortunate musicians who possesses perfect pitch. That gift, of being able to play any note he hears, allows him to create solos in an almost ethereal manner.

“When I hear a beautiful melody, I see scenes in my mind, and those scenes lead me to feelings, emotions,” he said. “I can get very emotional. Sometimes, when I’m playing a ballad, I’ll have to stop for a moment to keep from crying. I really get involved, deep down inside.”

* Jeff Elliott plays tonight, from 9 to 1 a.m., at Chadney’s, 3000 W. Olive St., Burbank. No cover, one-drink minimum per show. (818) 843-5333.

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Quick Hits: Don Menza was once one of the most explosive tenor saxophonists in jazz, a man who liked to play faster and offer more notes per solo than any two other tenor men combined. Well, almost. Things have changed, though. Menza, a hero of bands led by Buddy Rich and Louie Bellson, is still full of energy but he likes slower tempos and more space in his solos. “I’m mellowing,” he said, and it’s the truth. He leads a quartet at Chadney’s on Saturday . . .

Modern-minded bassist Todd Sickafoose, a Cal Arts grad who has played with pianist James Carney, likes his jazz to have an adventurous, unpredictable side. He leads his quartet Saturday, 9 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., at Jax (339 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale; no cover, no minimum; [818] 500-1604).

Want to hear a solid contemporary jazzman explore his fascination with the blues? Then check out ex-Weather Report/Jean-Luc Ponty guitarist Scott Henderson, whose trio wades waist deep into the 12-bar form tonight (and April 16), 9:30 and 11:30 p.m., at La Ve Lee (12514 Ventura Blvd., Studio City; $8, two-drink minimum; [818] 980-8158).