The Sound--and Look and Feel--of Jazz

What makes a first-class jazz club? Good acoustics, for sure, along with a pleasant atmosphere, clear sight lines and maybe even a good martini.

The newly refurbished Jazz Club at the Orange County Performing Arts Center offers all of the above. In transforming the 299-seat Founders Hall--originally a backstage rehearsal space used for small-scale chamber or jazz concerts--for Jazz Club performances, center officials recently added an attractive staircase entry and comfortable seating that’s given it an intimate, nightclub ambience, with the look and feel of classic, jazz nightlife.

New York Clubs Serve as Models

But a jazz club is not like a fantasy baseball field. If you build it, they--meaning audiences--will not necessarily come, no matter how attractively it’s put together. Not without one more significant element--the most important element of all. And Center President Jerry E. Mandel knows exactly what that is.

“It’s the music, of course,” Mandel said recently. “Without prime music, you can have the greatest setting in the world, but it won’t be a real jazz club.”

In his quest to make the room a “real jazz club,” Mandel tours the Manhattan jazz clubs every time he goes to New York, trying to stay on top of trends.

“I want to have as good a lineup as I possibly can,” he added. “This year, it’s worked out so that we have a sort of trumpet theme, with Roy Hargrove, Arturo Sandoval and Nicholas Payton. But we also have a great singer in Dianne Reeves and a great flute player in James Newton.”

The series opened in September with pianist Gene Harris, who played to a enthusiastic capacity crowd. The schedule continues Friday and Saturday, when highly regarded young pianist Brad Mehldau makes his Jazz Club debut with his trio.

Mehldau’s program will include selections from his current album, “Art of the Trio 4: Back at the Vanguard,” as well as some some new, untitled pieces.

A Space That’s Kind to the Music

Although the Jazz Club series is only 3 years old, musicians who have appeared on the room’s spacious stage already have strong opinions about the venue.

“The acoustics are just great,” said bassist Charlie Haden, who performed last year with pianist Kenny Barron. “Kenny and I only perform acoustically, without amplification, and that means we have to work in a room that allows us to do that.

“Kenny plays with a very subtle touch and an amazing feeling for tone,” Haden added, “and the thing that struck me about the Jazz Club was how the really subtle qualities of his playing could be heard with such clarity.”

Not surprising, perhaps, given the room’s rehearsal-hall origins.

“We knew, pretty much from the beginning,” said Mandel, “that we had a space that would be kind to the music. And it’s worked out that way under every circumstance, from cabaret artists to straight-head jazz groups with horns, to duos like Charlie and Kenny.”

A flute, however, could be another matter. Like the violin, it is not used all that frequently in the jazz world, so it will be interesting to see how it fares when composer and flutist James Newton brings his quartet to the Jazz Club next year. And Newton, who has not yet performed in the room, has high expectations.

“I heard a very good friend of mine, a classical flutist, play a chamber-music program in Founders Hall,” he said, “and I was really impressed with the sound, as well as the intimacy of the room. I prefer to perform acoustically, since the quality of the instrument’s tone, with all its complex overtones, doesn’t always survive through microphones and a sound system.”

Newton, who also teaches music at UC Irvine, and his quartet will play Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus numbers as well as his compositions.

“Because of the sympathetic acoustics of the club,” he added, “I think we’re going to be able to do our program with very little amplification, if any at all. That’ll suit me fine, and I think it’s what will best please our audience.”

Jazz singers, on the other hand, have somewhat different needs than instrumentalists. Dealing with words and stories in addition to the imaginative musicality and driving sense of swing that audiences expect, they must--to be most effective--establish a believable liaison with their listeners.

Being Able to Tell the Story

“Telling the story is one of the most important things to me,” said Dianne Reeves. “And the intimacy of the room can have a lot to do with how successful you are. That’s one of the things I like about the Jazz Club: its intimacy, the way you can reach out to people as well as the responsiveness of the audiences.”

Reeves, reached on tour in Japan, said she’ll devote a substantial portion of her Jazz Club shows later this month to material from her latest album, “Bridges.”

“I’ll do some standards, as well,” she added, noting that her next album will be a tribute to legendary jazz singer Sarah Vaughan.

“People still aren’t quite sure if they want to define me as a jazz singer, probably because I’ve done so many different things in my career,” Reeves said. “But I’ve reached a point in my life now where jazz is where I feel most comfortable.”

The Jazz Club Series is sponsored by Thomas E. and Joyce A. Tucker, Delta Air Lines and Long Beach jazz radio station KLON-FM (88.5) and continues through May with performances by Reeves (Dec. 17-18), Hargrove (Jan. 21-22), Sandoval (March 3-4), Payton (April 28-29) and James Newton (May 5-6). This year for the first time, the center is offering $10 student rush tickets for all Jazz Club performances.

“It’s just one more ingredient,” said Mandel, “along with the lovely renovation and a strong lineup of performers, in our continuing quest to establish the Jazz Club as Orange County’s premiere jazz concert venue.”

* The Brad Mehldau Trio, Jazz Club at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Tickets: $40 (for 7:30 p.m. shows) and $28 (for 9:30 p.m.) (714) 556-2787, Ext. 240.