Branford Marsalis Set Is, Mostly, a Marvel

Opening-night sets can be difficult enterprises for jazz ensembles. Usually arriving in town on the same day, setting up on a new stage, figuring out the acoustics of the room and encountering an unfamiliar audience can generate uncertain performances from the best of players.

The Branford Marsalis Quartet’s first set at Catalina Bar & Grill on Tuesday night was a case in point--superb in most aspects, problematic in others.

Marsalis’ latest album, “Requiem” (Columbia), revealed a talent very much coming into his own. Always gifted, occasionally distracted by other aspects of his career, he sounded like a player finally willing to take his place in the highest echelon of jazz tenor saxophonists.

The primary upside of Tuesday night’s performance was the fact that Marsalis’ playing frequently confirmed that observation. Although it didn’t always reach the level of quality on the recording, at its best it was a stunning example of a first-rate jazz imagination at work.

On the ballad “A Thousand Autumns,” for example, Marsalis, playing in a kind of rubato, vocalized fashion, was both storyteller and improviser, his warm and affecting tone balanced by the articulate sense of swing that is always present in his playing. On many of the faster numbers, he ripped into his soloing with abandon, tossing in extreme elements--multiphonics, squeals, blurred runs--to color and vary his flow of ideas.

The performance was also enhanced by the presence of pianist Joey Calderazzo and bassist Eric Reedus. Calderazzo is a gifted, if underappreciated, player who, when he could be heard, delivered solos spiced with a soaring rhythmic drive.

The key words are “when he could be heard,” which points up the downside of the Marsalis opening: the far-too-present drumming of Jeff “Tain” Watts. One of the busiest players in jazz, Watts is an extremely potent percussionist, probably capable of rhythmically propelling an entire symphony orchestra. But the size of his performance came dangerously close to overwhelming both the music and the acoustics of the room, blurring the impact--at least in the first set--of an ensemble that is filled with creative potential.

* The Branford Marsalis Quartet tonight at Catalina Bar & Grill, 1640 N. Cahuenga Blvd., (213) 466-2210. $26 cover at 8:30 and $21 at 10:30 p.m. Two drink minimum.