Sills’ Technique on Tenor Sax Fits Demanding Trio Format

Jazz trios consisting of a horn player, bass and drums have been making increasing appearances over the past year or so. Tenor saxophonists Joe Henderson, Branford Marsalis and Joshua Redman are among the numerous instrumentalists who have had a crack at the demanding setting.

But the prospect of improvising without the supportive foundation of a harmony instrument--piano or guitar, for example--is a daunting one. And it is the rare young player who feels comfortable enough to shoulder the burden of carrying such a significant solo load.

Wednesday night at Rocco Ristorante in Bel-Air, however, David Sills, 27, a youthful tenor saxophonist with articulate technical skills, a warm sound and a fertile musical imagination, took on the task. The trick to successfully improvise without accompanying harmony is to generate lines that honor the chord structure without lapsing into melody-less scales and arpeggios. Sills managed to do precisely that with a remarkably high rate of success.

Playing a set that ranged from standards such as “Speak Low” to tricky jazz lines (including one from Henderson), he moved through a series of improvised choruses that balanced rapid runs with more thoughtfully lyrical passages. The only missing element in his playing was a strong sense of musical personality. Like many other young jazz artists of the ‘90s, Sills has yet to move past his technical achievements and into the more subtle areas of emotional self-expression.

His set was aided enormously by the presence of bassist Jeff Littleton, whose strong, substantive lines provided the harmonic energy for Sills’ improvisational flights. And drummer Mark Ferber’s subtle support was encouraging and propulsive without being overwhelming.

The Web site for Rocco Ristorante includes a whimsical warning in its calendar listings: “Jazz,” it says, “is known to the state of California to be a mind-altering substance.” Mind-altering, that is, in a particularly appealing fashion, and especially so when it is performed by the lesser-known, but talented emerging young artists--such as Sills--who are making regular appearances on the club’s booking schedule.