Guitarzans Swing in Tribute

A plane falling on Restaurant Kikuya’s lounge in Huntington Beach on Sunday would have wiped out a majority of the world’s best jazz guitarists, said one of the fans packed in for the first in a monthly series of Guitar Nights.

With 15 guitarists from both coasts representing a variety of styles and generations, the first Guitar Night, arranged by bassist Luther Hughes, was a historic event.

Among those making appearances, some on borrowed guitars, were celebrated swing revivalist Howard Alden, who was born in Newport Beach and lives in New York; John Pisano, a longtime Joe Pass associate and organizer of his own guitar nights in Los Angeles; seven-string whiz Ron Eschete; revered East Coast-based jazz and classical technician Gene Bertoncini; recording artist and USC music instructor Frank Potenza; longtime Sinatra guitarist Ron Anthony; and emerging stylist Steve Cotter.

There was barely enough room when they gathered on the bandstand with Hughes and drummer Paul Kreibich for a group picture.

Between jazz sets, the Orange County-based Duo Sesoko--Eric Brenton and Lee Zimmer--played an engaging program of works from Domenico Scarlatti, Maurice Ravel, Astor Piazzola and others, performances that the audience greeted with rapt attention and applause.

Almost all performed before a crowd that stretched out the door.

The event was held in memory of Huntington Beach resident George Van Eps, the esteemed guitarist and seven-string innovator who died in 1998 at the age of 85. In his last years, Van Eps made a number of performances with Hughes and other musicians at Kikuya. Photos were hung around the room, showing Van Eps in various stages of his career, and Hughes and others peppered the evening with stories Van Eps used to tell, stories that dropped such names as George Gershwin, Fats Waller and Fred Astaire.

The evening’s most moving tribute came when Alden, borrowing a seven-string guitar, performed a Van Eps tune written for Van Eps’ wife, “I Wrote It for Jo.” Alden’s lovingly considered pace, unexpected chordal combinations and overall melodic beauty strongly reflected Van Eps’ unique style.

With guitarists Doug MacDonald and Jim Fox, Alden explored “Alone Together” at what came to be known during the evening as “George’s pace,” the relaxed yet insistent tempos that Van Eps used to set his songs in motion. MacDonald, in a way repeated by many of the evening’s participants, gave an impassioned, blues-washed performance that drew its strength from melody.

Bertoncini, who makes infrequent West Coast appearances, performed with Cotter and Anthony. Their rendition of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Wave” contrasted Bertoncini’s classically influenced improvisation with Anthony’s electric passion and Cotter’s driving intensity. At one point, drums and bass fell away, and the three created rich, ringing harmonies and entwined exchanges of sympathetic phrases.

The opening trio of Eschete, Potenza and Pisano was the most revealing. Playing a number of tunes that Van Eps favored--”All the Things You Are,” “A Foggy Day in London Town” “I’ve Got Rhythm”--and, again, at George’s tempo, the three showed individuality during solos and amazing empathy during ensemble play.

Eschete developed solos out of involved chords while Pisano provided pulsing accompaniment. Potenza’s solos stretched single note runs to incredible length, then resolved in melodic finishes. Pisano’s phrasing, strings of single notes often punctuated with emphatic chords, stood out on its rhythmic invention.

These spontaneous performances were full of moments when the musicians pulled together in alert fashion to pass the lead or bring a song to its close. After Eschete, Potenza, Pisano and the rhythm section circled endlessly around the end of “Have You Seen Miss Jones?,” Hughes announced the final resolution as “a typical George [Van Eps] ending.”

“Yeah,” shouted someone in the audience. “He never wanted to say goodbye.”

* The next Guitar Night at Kikuya is Feb. 13, with guitarist Mundell Lowe. Information: (714) 536-6665.