Ralph Penland

Penland Polygon is the apt name of a many-sided quintet led by the drummer Ralph Penland and presented Friday at the Jazz Bakery. With the exception of Robert Hurst III, the fine bass player well known as a member of "The Tonight Show" band, Penland's musicians are relatively unfamiliar, though their talent takes little time to become evident. The front line comprises Charles Moore on trumpet and Gerald Pinter on tenor sax (occasionally soprano).

Ralph Penland's life in music has been the stuff of dreams. Just look at some of the masters the drummer's worked with: Frank Sinatra, Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, Nancy Wilson, Stan Getz, Hubert Laws, Dianne Reeves and Carlos Santana. Ask Penland to pick a favorite and he courteously declines.

Emily Remler shatters every preconception about jazz. Young, petite, attractive and female, she is as far from the stereotypical image of the jazz musician as the Rev. Jesse Jackson is from the icons of the political past. But images can be deceiving. Remler, a guitarist in the mainstream tradition, has the chops to play along with anyone.

Penland Polygon is the apt name of a many-sided quintet led by the drummer Ralph Penland and presented Friday at the Jazz Bakery. With the exception of Robert Hurst III, the fine bass player well known as a member of "The Tonight Show" band, Penland's musicians are relatively unfamiliar, though their talent takes little time to become evident. The front line comprises Charles Moore on trumpet and Gerald Pinter on tenor sax (occasionally soprano).

Les McCann, whose broadened musical scope in the late '60s and early '70s brought him new-found success, took what on the surface amounted to a trip down memory lane before a full house at Birdland West on Friday evening in Long Beach. But more than an exercise in nostalgia, his opening set was a solidly musical hour that showed that the pianist could find plenty of new adventures along familiar paths. Opening with a standard, "I'm in Love," McCann showed his be-bop roots as he introduced the impressive talents of trumpeter Jeff Elliott.

Ralph Penland's life in music has been the stuff of dreams. Just look at some of the masters the drummer's worked with: Frank Sinatra, Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, Nancy Wilson, Stan Getz, Hubert Laws, Dianne Reeves and Carlos Santana. Ask Penland to pick a favorite and he courteously declines.

Based in Chicago for 30 years and now president of the International Assn. of Jazz Educators, Green has earned scant recognition for his Parker-inspired yet personal alto sax. The ballads are the meat of this season; as he says, "I shape and bend the harmonic structures to my own expressive ends." This is true of "The Thrill Is Gone" (a 1931 pop song, not the B.B. King hit), also of "Who Can I Turn To" and "Goodbye."

If seeing the world's jazz greats is on your list of entertainment priorities, you won't want to miss trumpeter Freddie Hubbard at the Wheeler Hot Springs restaurant Friday evening. Playing everything from be-bop to free jazz to '70s fusion, Hubbard displays a virtuosity equalled by few. His long list of accolades includes a Grammy. Recently, he was chosen the "best trumpet player in the world" in a Down Beat readers' poll.

George Coleman is a talented, veteran tenor saxophonist with fast fingers, a quick imagination and a powerful sense of swing. He also receives far less recognition than he deserves--he is best known, perhaps, for his brief but impressive stint with Miles Davis in the early '60s. On Tuesday at the Jazz Bakery, in the opening performance of a six-night run, he experienced some of the consequences of high talent and low visibility.

The career of Freddie Hubbard has taken as many turns as a politician makes promises. After two decades of indecision about whether to pursue the straight-ahead route or go for the gold via fusion, he landed on stage Saturday at Royce Hall with one of the best pure all-star jazz groups he has ever fronted. Reading from left to right there were Cedar Walton at the piano, Andy Simpkins on bass, Joe Henderson on tenor saxophone and Ralph Penland on drums.

Les McCann, whose broadened musical scope in the late '60s and early '70s brought him new-found success, took what on the surface amounted to a trip down memory lane before a full house at Birdland West on Friday evening in Long Beach. But more than an exercise in nostalgia, his opening set was a solidly musical hour that showed that the pianist could find plenty of new adventures along familiar paths. Opening with a standard, "I'm in Love," McCann showed his be-bop roots as he introduced the impressive talents of trumpeter Jeff Elliott.

Emily Remler shatters every preconception about jazz. Young, petite, attractive and female, she is as far from the stereotypical image of the jazz musician as the Rev. Jesse Jackson is from the icons of the political past. But images can be deceiving. Remler, a guitarist in the mainstream tradition, has the chops to play along with anyone.

Surprisingly, Catalina's is closing out 1993 with one of the major disappointments of the year: a group led by trumpeter Wallace Roney. It's not that there is a lack of talent; it's what the members do with it. Roney was hailed here, just two years ago this week, as "the jazz front-runner in the stakes for stardom next year."

Red Rodney, who came to jazz prominence with Charlie Parker in 1949, remains at heart a be-bopper. But his approach is fresh and spirited, his style contemporary. In town as a last-minute substitute for the ailing Toots Thielemans, one example of the 60-year-old trumpeter's modern attitude and his respect for tradition came, Thursday night at the Catalina Bar & Grill, during a rendition of the traditional "Greensleeves."