Jazz Review : Acoustics Hinder Harris Quartet

Vibist Stefon Harris has been praised for the past year or so as one of the important new jazz arrivals of the late ‘90s--and with good cause. His recorded work has been well-crafted, and his live performances, in particular, have been dynamic efforts to find new gold in the sounds of an already well-explored instrument.

Tuesday, however, in the first set of a six-night run at the Jazz Bakery, Harris ran into a problem that can impact even far more experienced players: opening-night audio.

The Bakery is, admittedly, a room with tricky acoustics and, for drummers in particular, it demands a vigilant ear and a subtle touch. Too often, Harris’ quartet failed to deal with the fact that much of what it was playing was being shadowed by the murky audio that always results from failing to deal with the reverberations and clatter that can be caused by the Bakery’s high ceiling and hard-surfaced walls.

Nor did Harris help matters much by scheduling a loud, bashing drum solo from Nasheet Waits at the very start of the program. One kept feeling, in fact, that Waits would have been far more effective if he had followed the lead of minimalist drummer Leon Parker and worked solely with a snare drum, a hi-hat cymbal, a ride cymbal and a pair of sticks. It would have made for a far better integrated musical sound, one that would have allowed--as was not the case Tuesday--bassist Tarus Mateen’s playing to surface in the mix.

Somewhere in the middle of all this, however, some attractive music was being made. In several of Harris’ solos--especially those in which Waits simply accompanied with a driving rhythmic time on his ride cymbal--the talented young vibist revealed the blend of technical mastery and improvisational magic that have brought him such high praise. And his interaction with pianist Billy Childs was the product of two musical minds in sync, as they frequently tossed ideas back and forth with the quick, spontaneous connectivity of an all-NBA point guard and a power forward.

But Harris needs to develop leadership skills to match his unquestioned abilities as an improviser. And a vital element in those skills is the obligation to ensure that his players produce the best possible audio representation of the music, regardless of the peculiarities of the room.

* The Stefon Harris quartet at the Jazz Bakery through Sunday. 3233 Helms Ave., Culver City. (310) 271-9039. $20 admission tonight and Sunday at 8 and 9:30 p.m., and $18 Sunday at 7 and 8:30 p.m.