Hutcherson’s Fluent and Fleet Improv

The finest jazz improvisers have always understood the importance of both sounds and silences, of the fact that the most convincing improvisations are those in which brief moments of suspense are intrinsic elements within the musical flow. Perhaps because vibist Bobby Hutcherson was originally connected to the ‘60s avant-garde movement in New York--a time in which improvisation was being examined and reexamined from every conceivable perspective--his soloing always has had the sense of an improvisation as something more than a virtuosic torrent of notes.

Not that Hutcherson lacks virtuosity. Wednesday night at Catalina Bar & Grill, he performed with fleet technical mastery, his command of the instrument executed with such fluency that it was easy to overlook the level of difficulty present in many of his choruses.

Moving back and forth between rapid up-tempo tunes (some dating back to his early years) and standards (“Embraceable You” and “Dearly Beloved” among them), he was in rare form. (At one point, in fact, he smiled at the moderate-sized audience and noted, “We’re really having a good time up here.”)

Several selections were structured around extended vamps (repeated harmonic and rhythmic patterns), allowing Hutcherson to build dramatic intensity via combinations of riff patterns and over-the-bar-line phrasing, all of it enormously effective. On the ballad “Embraceable You,” his sense of spacing gave his melodic line a stirring rhythmic emphasis, especially impressive within the tune’s slow tempo.

Hutcherson’s quartet included pianist Greg Kurstin, bassist Tony Dumas and drummer Ralph Penland. Kurstin, whose career has crossed genres from jazz to pop, fusion and a duo ensemble with wife and Theremin player Pamelia Kurstin, was in his straight-ahead jazz persona, chording supportively behind Hutcherson and soloing in an aggressive arpeggio style reminiscent of McCoy Tyner.

Veterans Dumas and Penland, among the Southland’s most dependable rhythm teams, laid down a thick--at times too thick--carpet of hard-driving swing.

*

* The Bobby Hutcherson Quartet at Catalina Bar & Grill through Sunday. 1640 N. Cahuenga Blvd., (323) 466-2210. $18 cover tonight and Saturday at 8:30 p.m. and Sunday at 7 p.m. $16 cover tonight and Saturday at 10:30 p.m. and Sunday at 9 p.m. Two drink minimum.