Taking a Stand

Tim Emmons started his musical life as a guitarist, but he didn’t click with the instrument.

“Look at these mitts,” he said, holding up his small hands with thick digits. “My fingers are too fat for the guitar.”

Bass, to which Emmons switched at age 16, was better. First he played electric, then, at 18, when the West Hollywood native began studying music at UC Santa Barbara, upright bass. The latter felt grand.

“I fell in love with it,” said Emmons, who lives in Highland Park with his wife, Leslie, and their 20-month-old son, Alexander. “The sound has a deep rumble, like the voice of a big man. And it’s so much like a human body that it’s like being around another person. Maybe I was born to be a bass player.”

Indeed, Emmons, who still plays electric, has attributes that keep him in demand: a big tone, solid rhythm and versatility. As a studio musician, he’s appeared on several film soundtracks and he’s made some pop records. He teaches bass at USC, from which he holds a master’s degree in jazz studies, and at University of Redlands, and he runs the jazz band at Occidental College.

Emmons also works his share of club dates, like steady Mondays at the Lucky Seven in Hollywood with actor-pianist Jeff Goldblum.

“The place is always packed and has the energy of jazz during the ‘50s, when it was really popular,” he said. The bassist is also a two-year member of Jim and Martha Hession’s American Jazz Quintet, with which he plays tonight (and every Thursday in September) at Jax in Glendale and every Friday in September at Residuals in Studio City (11042 Ventura Blvd., [818] 761-8301).

The bassist said he likes playing with the Hessions because their repertoire includes blues, jazz and classic pop standards.

“It’s a true American band,” he said, adding that Jim Hession “brings the history of jazz piano” to the bandstand and “Martha’s a consummate song stylist.”

Finally, Emmons praised his rhythm partner, drummer Donald Dean: “He brings this sort of laid-back Kansas City feel, an older-school kind of really relaxed swing. He forces me to sit right in the center of the groove and not push him too much.”

Emmons, who studied with bassists Dennis Trembly, co-principal bassist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and John Clayton, the acclaimed jazz musician, said he’s happy to be playing jazz so often, in so many venues: “If the occurrence of club work is any barometer, jazz seems revitalized.”

Tim Emmons plays with Jim and Martha Hession’s American Jazz Quintet, 9 tonight to 1:30 a.m., at Jax, 339 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale. No cover, no minimum. (818) 500-1604.

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Scoring a la Duke: Duke Ellington is known mainly for the wondrous works he created for his jazz orchestra, but he occasionally--probably not as often as he would have liked--contributed soundtracks to motion pictures. These efforts, like the score for “Anatomy of a Murder,” the 1959 Otto Preminger film, often took the shape of an extended composition moving gracefully under the dramatic narrative. You can hear excerpts of Ellington’s score for this film and others, such as “Paris Blues”--all obtained from the archives of the Smithsonian Institution--during “Jazz Goes to the Movies II,” featuring Louie Bellson’s orchestra, film historian--and jazz buff--Leonard Maltin and clips from the films.

The program takes place Saturday, 7:30 p.m., at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Hollywood; $15,$20. (213) 461-3673.

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Different Sound: Diaspora, a new quartet, offers a refreshing, invigorating look at traditional Jewish melodies, blending such well-loved themes as “Misirlou” with elements of jazz and sounds of such climes as Africa, the Middle East and Cuba. The music, played by pianist Tamir Hendelman, saxophonist-flutist Sam Sadigursky, bassist Larry Steen and drummer Shai Wetzer can be remarkable, evincing a haunting, then exalted quality.

Diaspora plays tonight, 7:30 p.m., at the Skirball Taper Courtyard of the Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. Free; $5 charge for parking. (310) 440-4500.