Jane Bunnett: Grooving to Lively Cuban Rhythms

In the rush to experience Ry Cooder and the Buena Vista Social Club, it would be easy to overlook another quite different but equally compelling collaboration between North American and Cuban artists: Jane Bunnett and Spirits of Havana.

Bunnett, a Canadian soprano saxophonist and flutist, has been fascinated by, and involved with, Cuban music since the release of her 1991 album, “Spirits of Havana,” described by the All Music Guide as one of the top 300 jazz discs of all time. And on Wednesday, she opened a five-night run at the Jazz Bakery with an eight-piece ensemble that included the superb Cuban jazz pianist Hilario Duran and veteran percussionist Pancho Quinto.

Despite arriving in town on the heels of an international tour that involved a seemingly endless string of problems with visas and passports, the Spirits of Havana ensemble was in extraordinary form.

The musical focus, for Bunnett and her trumpet-playing husband, Larry Cramer, has always been to find common linkages between jazz and Cuban music without sacrificing the unique qualities of each. And the performances consistently reflected that kind of symbiotic joining.

“Chamalongo,” for example, originally composed by Bunnett with tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders in mind, was linked to chant and rhythms reflecting the title, a word from the Abakua language (from the Calabar region of West Africa) signifying a divination ceremony.

“San Lazaro,” on the other hand, traced to a traditional piece arranged with a surging current of Afro-Cuban jazz rhythms by Duran.

And “Francisco’s Dream,” written by Bunnett as a kind of tribute to one of the orishas, or gods, of the Santeria religion, was used as a vehicle for a display of bata drumming by Quinto, singer-drummer Ernest Gatell and the youthful Michael “Lucumi” Herrera.

Bunnett’s soprano saxophone and flute work soared through the various complex rhythms with ease. An imaginative player whose solos often touched upon avant-garde elements, she never lost touch with an innate lyricism that brought a sense of light and spirit to the multi-textured, multicolored sounds.

Cramer offered effective creative counterpoint, and bassist Roberto Occhipinti and drummer Dafnis Rodrigues provided the high voltage that kept the momentum flowing for this remarkable musical collective.

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* Jane Bunnett and Spirits of Havana at the Jazz Bakery, 3233 Helms Ave., tonight and Saturday at 8 and 9:30 p.m., $20 admission. Sunday at 7 and 8:30 p.m., $18 admission. (310) 271-9039.