Morgan’s Rich Talent Survives

In an era in which fast fingers often seem to be the defining characteristic of a generation of jazz improvisers, it’s a pleasure to occasionally hear players with more resourceful attributes. Alto saxophonist Frank Morgan’s opening set at the Jazz Bakery on Tuesday night was a welcome example of the musical fascination that flows from soloing that balances technique and virtuosity with an equal concern for tone and phrasing.

Morgan, 67, has been around long enough to have recorded with Wardell Gray in the early ‘50s, but his active performing career was truncated by incarcerations for drug use and drug possession. His comeback in the mid-’80s, however, revealed a talent that had miraculously survived the troubled decades. Equally important, it was--and is--a talent rich with both the bop-driven phrases and the arching lyricism of Morgan’s primary influence, Charlie Parker.

Working with the fine rhythm team of pianist John Hicks, bassist Jeff Littleton and drummer Roy McCurdy, Morgan moved through a strong, jazz-based program--Freddie Hubbard’s “Little Sunflower,” Billy Strayhorn’s “Lotus Blossom,” Dizzy Gillespie’s “Night in Tunisia” and Wayne Shorter’s “Footsteps.” That’s a line of material with sufficient harmonic and rhythmic charge to energize any improviser, and Morgan made the most of it.

On the faster numbers, he typically assembled short, motivic phrases, coloring them with his surprisingly sweet tone, often adding leaps into the upper harmonics of his horn, and spicing the process with sudden note bursts. The sole ballad, “Lotus Blossom,” was dealt with in unabashedly romantic fashion, and--reflecting his maturity as a player--Morgan remained in close touch with the melody, primarily restating it via ornamentation and rephrasing.

* Frank Morgan with the John Hicks Trio at the Jazz Bakery, 3233 Helms Ave. Tonight at 8 and 9:30, $22 admission. Friday through Sunday at 8 and 9:30 p.m., $25 admission. (310) 271-9039.