Prolific Drummer Billy Higgins and His Quartet Play Royce Hall

Looking back over the past four decades, it’s hard to find a major jazz artist or a significant jazz event without encountering the name of drummer Billy Higgins.

And it’s not surprising that he is reported to be the most recorded drummer in the history of jazz. From his seminal work with Ornette Coleman in the late ‘50s and ‘60s to appearances with John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Herbie Hancock, Steve Lacy, Milt Jackson, Joe Henderson, Pat Metheny, Cedar Walton and dozens of other major names, Higgins has been the ultimate, all-purpose drummer.

Capable of finding common ground with every imaginable style, he has done so without sacrificing any of his own originality.

As a member of the classic precedent-setting group that Coleman brought to New York’s Five Spot, Higgins’ work received less attention than the “free” blowing of Coleman and trumpeter Don Cherry. Yet it was Higgins’ irrepressibly swinging, persistently groove-driven drumming (with the sterling aid of bassist Charlie Haden) that laid the foundation for the free jazz flights of fancy.

And it was Higgins’ enthusiastically smiling demeanor--the reflection of a spirited involvement with the music that has always been a central aspect of who he is as a musician and an artist--that played a major role in providing audience accessibility for the Coleman quartet’s envelope-stretching music.

“Music is really the universal language,” Higgins says. “When you start playing some music, everybody knows what you’re talking about.”

There was a time, however, when Higgins probably didn’t expect he would still be playing music at age 63. Waiting for a liver transplant, it seemed unlikely that he could ever return to his usual high level of craftsmanship.

But return he did, playing as well--and sometimes better--than ever, and becoming much more actively involved in the community via the creation of the World Stage, which has become a warm and inviting musical environment for youngsters lacking the wherewithal to get started on a career in music.

Tonight, at Royce Hall, the UCLA Student Committee for the Arts presents “An Evening With Billy Higgins and His Quartet,” hosted by Kenny Burrell, director of the university’s jazz program. Proceeds will benefit UCLA’s Jazz and World Music Series.

Higgins will be leading an unusually felicitous collection of players: Charles Lloyd on saxophones, Geri Allen on piano and Jeff Littleton on bass. It’s a group that would be hard to improve upon, and one with strong links to Higgins.

Expect musical fireworks, but expect them to be delivered with the good taste, the joyous love of music and the in-the-pocket rhythmic drive that have made Higgins one of the finest jazz artists of the second half of the 20th century.

* “An Evening With Billy Higgins and His Quartet,” tonight at Royce Hall, UCLA. $30, $24, $19 and $12 (for UCLA students with valid full-time I.D.). (310) 825-2101.

Texas Jazz: It takes either an optimist or someone who has had serious success in another field to embark on the risky path of starting a jazz record company. And to then do it from a base in Texas--even the culturally active area around Austin--requires an even more idealistic sweep of confidence.

Jack Rock, a former aerospace executive and inventor apparently possessing all those qualifications, has started Viewpoint Records with the attitude that location does matter, but only in the sense that it must provide an appropriate environment for creative activity.

His newly built studio, situated on a hilltop in a place called Two Coves, is surrounded by oak trees, wildflowers and clear air.

“Artists who come here,” he says, “seem inspired. Something happens. They want to play longer, dig deeper.”

The first group of releases from Viewpoint places an emphasis upon the notion of playing deeper and more creatively, since there are currently few major names on the roster. The initial albums showcase drummer Gerry Gibbs (son of vibes great Terry Gibbs), the Jeff Helmer Trio with the well-regarded New York tenor saxophonist Rick Margitza, singer Suzi Stern and singer-pianist (formerly featured at the Bel-Air Hotel) Rebecca Ryan.

Riffs: What will the AOL-Time Warner merger mean for jazz? Not much in the immediate sense; jazz is not exactly high on the priority list for these two mega-corporations, despite a significant jazz catalog. But the broad-band potential now available to AOL via the Time Warner cable systems will surely accelerate the already growing potential for the Internet as a music-delivery system, bypassing the traditional retail method of buying a box of music and taking it home. Stay tuned; new developments will be rapidly arriving. . . .

One of the leading music-download sites, https://www.musicmaker.com, has expanded its catalog to a total of more than 250,000 songs. The company’s custom compilations can range from rock, jazz, classical and new age to blues, alternative and country. Expect other download sites to make aggressive efforts to augment their own catalogs. . . .

Is jazz singer Jean Bryson Tomas really Dizzy Gillespie’s daughter from an “extramarital union”? A suit filed by Tomas in Manhattan insists that she is, despite the refusal of Gillespie’s widow, Lorraine, to acknowledge her as such. The suit asks for a declaration that Tomas is Gillespie’s daughter as well as a 50% interest in his copyrighted music.