Jazz Review : 3 Personalities Leave a Singular Impression

COSTA MESA — Between sets Sunday at Birraporetti’s in the South Coast Plaza mall, bassist Andy Simpkins was praising drummer Matt Johnson, with whom he has been playing for about 18 months. “Jeff Hamilton, Jake Hanna, Sherman Ferguson. . . . Matt’s as good as anybody I’ve worked with, especially when he does a Brazilian or samba tune.”

Praise from Simpkins--who has played for Sarah Vaughn, the Three Sounds and practically everybody --is high praise indeed. But Johnson really didn’t need the recommendation. His playing had spoken for itself.

When the band had applied a sprightly samba beat to the old standby “It Might as Well Be Spring,” Johnson stirred up a hurricane with his sticks, mixing snare rolls, tom-tom bursts and rim shots while keeping up a steady ride on his cymbal. On the following number, Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “No More Blues,” he’d shuffled his brushes across the kit in a way that recalled the graceful footwork of a dancer.

Sunday’s date was a particularly noteworthy one. Johnson and Simpkins’ usual pianist, Marc LeBrun, was out on tour with Maureen McGovern, so in his place Johnson had booked the intelligently detailed, smooth-operating Dave Mackay, a New Englander who has played with Chet Baker, Jim Hall and Don Ellis over the years. Mackay is known to jazz fans in Orange County for his work with singer Stephanie Haynes (they recorded the duo album “Two on a Swing” together).

The matchup of Mackay with Johnson and Simpkins was exceptionally serendipitous. The pianist’s sensitive ballad readings and witty up-tempo exercises were contrasted smartly by Simpkins’ dynamically rhythmic support and lyrical, between-line bass fills.

Simpkins’ decidedly sturdy timekeeping, meanwhile, freed Johnson to embellish around the beat. The resulting interpretations of such standards as “Body and Soul,” “If I Were a Bell” and “All the Things You Are” were stamped with three personalities that left a single, satisfying impression.

No one member stood out from his mates. Instead, brilliant solo efforts and seamless interplay were the rule. Simpkins and Johnson made for a particularly tight meld. Simpkins offered strong walk lines in support of Mackay while placing complementary, lyrical inserts between the piano phrases.

Mackay varied between lush, swirling passages and simpler, to-the-point swinging lines. Occasional dissonant combinations added a Thelonious Monk-like feel to his play, and the smoothness with which he delivered even the fleetest phrase made for the impression that one was listening to a master.

Johnson’s varied attack in support of his band mates kept the familiar standards from becoming tedious, repetitive exercises. Left to improvise on his own, he developed theme and variation exchanges.

That musicians of this quality make a weekly, cover-free appearance in a comfortable (though somewhat noisy) setting is a boon to the O.C. jazz scene, which seems to offer less and less in the way of ongoing performances. And the occasional substitute pianists (Frank Collett and Tom Ranier also have sat in for LeBrun) make for an interesting showcase. This is an engagement that deserves our support.

* The Matt Johnson Trio with Andy Simpkins plays Sunday nights from 6:30 to 9:30 at Birraporetti’s in South Coast Plaza, 3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa. Free. (714) 850-9090.