Book Series About Pianist Contains a Mysterious Twist

Let’s say you’re a dedicated jazz fan, and that one of your favorite pastimes is reading a mystery novel as you listen to the latest Sonny Rollins CD. How would it be if that novel began with a paragraph like this:

“I’m at Ruth Price’s Jazz Bakery in Culver City, California, and this time it’s not a dream. . . . Minutes before the first set, I stand in the lobby with Ruth, sipping coffee, running over tunes in my mind, wondering if I’ve got the right bass and drums with me.”

Not exactly your father’s mystery novel, is it? But it is the prologue to a book bearing the exceedingly jazz-friendly title of “Bird Lives!” The first-person narrative is spoken by jazz pianist Evan Horne, whose dedicated if somewhat erratic musical career has finally led him to a long-hoped-for gig at the Bakery.

But it doesn’t take long for a situation to arise that calls upon Horne’s skills as a private investigator. And that situation is one that will undoubtedly be dear to the heart of mainstream jazz fans. Someone, it seems, has been murdering smooth-jazz musicians on significant historical jazz dates--the day Charles Mingus died, the day Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue” was recorded.

To say more would be to reveal some of the twists and turns in an entertaining read. “Bird Lives!” ($6, Worldwide Mystery Novels) was written by Bill Moody, a drummer who has toured and recorded with Maynard Ferguson, Jon Hendricks, Lou Rawls and others.

Moody, who lives in Northern California, writes with the ease of someone thoroughly familiar with his subject. Most jazz fans have suffered the frustrations of reading novelists who love the idea of jazz without understanding its essence. No such problem here. Moody has been in the trenches himself long enough to get into the heart of the jazz life.

“Bird Lives!” is the fourth of Moody’s novels chronicling Evan Horne’s adventures, each of which takes place in a convincingly atmospheric jazz setting, with plenty of references to real-world jazz characters.

* “Solo Hand” (Walker & Co., currently out of print, unfortunately, but probably available used from Amazon.com or EBay) was Moody’s first novel. It, too, begins with a reference to a familiar Southern California jazz location, Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse, as Horne wrestles with the conflicting pulls between his life as a musician and a private investigator.

* “Death of a Tenor Man” ($5.50, Dell Bantam) centers on a real-world subject: the mysterious death of tenor saxophonist Wardell Gray in Las Vegas in 1955.

* In the “The Sound of the Trumpet” ($21.95 hardcover, Walker & Co.), Horne discovers what appears to be a lost recording by Clifford Brown, as well as a trumpet with the initials C.B. engraved on the bell, moments before he has to explain to police his connection with the dead body lying beside his discoveries.

Moody’s writing style has some of the lift and swing of a good rhythm section, with the action moving at a brisk, propulsive pace. Gripping as pure mystery tales, his books offer jazz fans the enticing added attraction of taking place in a world of familiar names and places.

G-Whiz Holiday Sounds: Kenny G’s saxophone stylings may grate the nerves of many mainstream jazz fans, but there’s no denying his impact in the overall marketplace. This week, SoundScan’s Catalog Jazz Chart lists four of his CDs in the Top 10: “Faith--A Holiday Album,” No. 1; “Miracles--The Holiday Album,” No. 2; “Kenny G’s Greatest Hits,” No. 4; “Breathless,” No. 7.

Meanwhile, his “Classics in the Key of G”--despite its vilification by many jazz critics--is still in the Top 10 (No. 9 this week) of Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Charts, 72 weeks after it was released. As if that wasn’t enough, Billboard’s annual SoundScan Seasonal Albums chart lists the “Faith” album at No. 5 and “Miracles” at No. 11.

Arista Records proudly trumpets all these numbers with the gift-wrapped identification of G as “the No. 1 best-selling holiday artist and the No. 6 best-selling overall artist of the entire SoundScan era [which began in 1991], with a total of 27 million units sold in the U.S. alone.” Not bad for a guy who started out in the ‘70s as a talented, but not especially unique, Coltrane and Grover Washington-influenced tenor saxophonist.

On Record: There is, however, another Christmas jazz route to take, and the tour guide is pianist Cyrus Chestnut. “A Charlie Brown Christmas” (Atlantic Records) features the versatile Chestnut in the company of players such as Michael Brecker, Stefon Harris, Wallace Roney, Gary Bartz and others performing a program of material closely associated with the lovable Charles Schulz characters--some of it, of course, by Vince Guaraldi.

Chestnut plays everything from “Linus and Lucy” to “Fur Elise,” and singer Vanessa Williams joins the company, along with the Boys Choir of Harlem, to sing “Christmas Time Is Here.” The album probably won’t hit the top of the smooth-jazz charts, but its seasonal appeal is virtually irresistible.

Less directly related to the season, but no less attractive as potential holiday gift items, are a quartet of reissues from the deep vaults of the Verve catalog.

* “Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook” is one of the great classics of jazz vocalizing. The two-CD set includes a bonus track rendering of “Blue Skies.”

* “Domino” adds 15 bonus tracks beyond the original Roland Kirk 1962 release, which featured, amazingly, Herbie Hancock, Andrew Hill and Wynton Kelly alternating as pianists. Beyond Kirk’s always astonishing and too-little-recognized pure improvisational skills, the album impressively displays his never fully explored abilities as a composer.

* “Blue Moon” was the third solo recording of Carmen McRae’s career. Recorded in 1956, when she was just beginning to come to the attention of the jazz audience, the production showcases her in a solid collection of standards accompanied by orchestras led by Tadd Dameron and Jimmy Mundy.

* “Organ Grinder Swing” is a 1965 collection featuring Jimmy Smith in a particularly open-ended trio setting with guitarist Kenny Burrell and drummer Grady Tate. Unencumbered by big-band or orchestral settings, Smith stretches out in groove-driven excursions through the blues.

Koch Jazz is also continuing its reissue program with seven more ‘60s titles from the Vee Jay Label. The first four, released last week, are “Expoobident” featuring Lee Morgan, Clifford Jordan and Art Blakey; “Remember Mildred Bailey,” a tribute by Mavis Rivers and Red Norvo; and “Bill Henderson--His Complete Vee Jay Recordings, Vol. Two,” with Count Basie, Tommy Flanagan, etc.

Four more Vee Jays will be released next week: “Fantastic,” by alto saxophonist Frank Strozier; “Wayning Moments,” with Wayne Shorter and Freddie Hubbard; “For Bird and Bags,” a tribute to Charlie Parker and Milt Jackson by Eddie Harris; and Walter Perkins’ “MJT + 3,” the fine Chicago group of the ‘50s and ‘60s.

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Don Heckman writes about jazz for The Times. He can be reached at djh@earthlink.net.