Sax Players Johnson, Riley Rip Through a Workout

Two tenor saxophonists in action, tossing challenging phrases back and forth, their driving solos supported by a surging rhythm section: It’s one of the more thrilling jazz experiences, one that has been present in every era of jazz.

On Saturday night at the Jazz Spot in Los Feliz, the instrumentation surfaced once again, this time in the capable hands of tenor saxophonists Plas Johnson and Herman Riley, with the accompaniment of organist Art Hillery and drummer Johnny Kirkwood. And the opening set was all one could ask for in hard-driving, straight-ahead, blues-based jazz.

Riley’s first solo, in fact, kicked off the evening at such a high-voltage level that Johnson, at the end of the number, stepped to the microphone and drolly commented, “That’s the last time I’m going to let Herman take the first chorus.”

But Johnson was fully up to the high level of competition. Working through a set of material that seemed crafted for the two-tenor sound--especially in pieces such as Gene Ammons’ “Water Jug” and Dexter Gordon’s “Fried Bananas”--the two players kept raising the bar for each other.

The blues-based numbers were especially provocative choices, driving each to the heights of their improvisational skills. And in the set’s sole ballad, “Lover Man,” they exchanged phrases in a delightful juxtaposition of styles--Johnson’s slippery, sliding phrases and Riley’s blues- and gospel-based cries of passion.

Hillery and Kirkwood’s accompaniment was precisely right, firmly based in a propulsive rhythmic pocket, occasionally adding solo contrast, but always interacting and responding empathetically to the front-line players. The combination made for a rare evening of eminently listenable jazz--the sort of evening that deserves to be repeated many, many times.