Ronnie Laws’ Ensemble Fuses Acoustic and Electric Sounds

The group Ronnie Laws is fronting at the Jazz Bakery this week is billed as his acoustic quartet. In his opening set Wednesday night, he announced that the audience could expect to experience a “warm, pleasant acoustic evening.”

But both the billing and the announcement were somewhat off target. The “quartet” was actually a “quintet,” with pianist Vernell Brown, Jr., bassist Larry Antonino, drummer William Bryant and vibist Onaje Murray. And anyone walking into the venue in the middle of the opening number had good reason to wonder how the torrent of sound pouring through the room could ever possibly be described as “acoustic.”

In fact, the set was only intermittently acoustic, with Antonino’s alternate use of electric and stand-up basses the deciding factor.

And, of course, even acoustic music can be cranked up to ear-piercing levels via amplification, as it was for a portion of Laws’ performance.

Fortunately, there were more moderate moments, as well. The juxtaposition of those moments with the more aggressively dynamic passages was essentially what the evening was all about. Hard-edged tunes such as “You Knew” from Laws’ “Dream a Little” CD alternated with straight-ahead jazz such as Thelonious Monk’s “Well You Needn’t” and Wayne Shorter’s “Footprints.”

Despite the contrasts in material, Laws soloed in similar fashion throughout, on tenor and soprano saxophones. His style reflected a Coleman Hawkins approach to melody, filling his lines with vividly fluid ornamentation, occasionally tossing in gushing cascades of McCoy Tyner-like arpeggios. At times, his choruses came across as too note-heavy, in direct contrast to the engaging blends of rhythm and melody he has displayed in the past. When his musical focus was more direct and to the point--as in his soprano saxophone work on “Well You Needn’t”--Laws’ unquestioned skills were more felicitously displayed.

His supporting musicians--especially Brown’s adventurous piano excursions and Murray’s gentle efforts on the vibes--added attractive musical coloration to a program that, despite its billing, managed to bring acoustic and electric jazz together in surprisingly friendly fashion.

*The Ronnie Laws Acoustic Quintet at the Jazz Bakery, 3233 Helms Ave. Tonight and Saturday at 8 and 9:30 p.m., $25. Sunday at 8 and 9:30 p.m., $22. (310) 271-9039.