Trumpeter leads symbiotic quartet

Trumpeter Ralph Alessi, a graduate of CalArts, has spent the past decade establishing himself as a regular participant in New York City’s contemporary jazz scene. Working with such established artists as pianist Uri Caine and saxophonists Steve Coleman, Sam Rivers and Ravi Coltrane, he has developed a focused, carefully articulated style based on elements that flow from Dave Douglas and Don Ellis.

On Wednesday at Rocco’s, Alessi led an extraordinarily talented quartet in the opening performance of a four-night run at the Hollywood club. Much of the material traced to his latest recording, “This Against That,” with a John Coltrane line, “Mr. Day,” tossed in for good measure.

Alessi’s original pieces tended to reflect the character of his improvising -- lines filled with widely leaping intervals, sudden bursts of notes and quick shifts of rhythm. In rare instances, he offered too-brief samples of an ability to come up with an engagingly lyrical, melodic phrase. More often, his music seemed intent on communicating ideas rather than feelings.

Most of the more absorbing passages in the set surfaced during the improvised sections and especially during the spontaneous segments by the rhythm section: pianist Andy Milne, bassist Ben Street and drummer Gerald Cleaver. Working together with surprisingly powerful cohesion, they displayed the sort of musical symbiosis that one usually only hears in well-established, long-term ensembles.

Milne, one of the important emerging new stars on his instrument, moved easily from the harmonically and rhythmically disjunct qualities of Alessi’s pieces into passages filled with brisk, straight-ahead swing. Street was a subtle but powerful presence in the mix, and Cleaver offered a model example of musically sensitive drumming.

Alessi’s choice of such gifted associates suggested a desire to present his music in the best possible light. But he would more effectively accomplish that task if he better balanced his technical and intellectual goals with a larger portion of unfettered musical expressiveness.

The Ralph Alessi Quartet at Rocco’s, 6320 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. Tonight, 10:30 p.m. $10. (323) 804-4146.