A Sax Supreme

Dale Fielder blows into the Jazz Bakery and Rosalie & Alva’s Performance Gallery. (Photo by Craig Johnson)

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More About

• Dale Fielder
• Eddie Henderson
• Catalina Bar
• Pete Christlieb
• Carl Saunders

DALE FIELDER plays all the saxes, but really wails on that baritone. Wails like his hero Pepper Adams, a big, husky tone that erupts into molten streams of notes and wild clusters — wringing from-the-heart melodic ideas from that big, ungiving horn. Not all pretty, but beautiful. He writes, too, sometimes vast pieces, suites. You never really know what you will get live: Cole Porter, “A Love Supreme” or an hour of the self-penned Suite: Clarity. But the L.A. jazz crowd, they like their songbook, maybe a little Monk. So while in NYC there’d be a line outside, and in Europe he’d be headlining, here you get Dale Fielder and all his reeds in more intimate settings. With pianist Jane Getz, bassist Edwin Livingston and drummer Thomas White. Beautiful. Rosalie & Alva’s Performance Gallery, Sat., Jan. 20, & Jazz Bakery, Tues., Jan. 23.

The wildly imaginative runs of trumpeter CARL SAUNDERS (with sax great PETE CHRISTLIEB) are at The Back Room, Fri., Jan. 19. On Sun., Jan. 21, there’s Steve Huffsteter’s introspective Miles sound at The Lighthouse, and some very nice Clifford Brown inspirations from young San Diegan Gilbert Castellanos, who appears with the excellent Gerald Clayton Quartet for brunch at the Palmira Bar and Grill and later at Catalina Bar & Grill. Finally, Eddie Henderson opens a string of local gigs at The Mint, Tues., Jan. 23. Henderson was one of the highlights of the Mingus Big Band at Royce Hall last year — a very exciting player in the NYC trumpet tradition.

Like an ectomorphic Cannonball, alto Zane Musa burns up Charlie O’s on Fri., Jan. 19. The Mulgrew Miller Trio (check out this ex-Messenger’s exhilarating Live at Yoshi’s for a taste) is at The Jazz Bakery, Fri.-Sun., Jan. 19-21, and smart tenor Mark Turner is there with his power trio FLy, Wed.-Thurs., Jan. 24-25. And dig pianist Tateng Katindig’s trio at Spazio on Thurs., Jan. 25. The man swings beautifully.

Funky organ trio Soulive cook up everything from Jimmy Smith to Jimi Hendrix and hip-hop at The Knitting Factory, Sat., Jan. 20. Sakesho make silky beguine-laced jazz on their latest, We Want You to Say; Andy Narell’s steel-pan improvisations are sometimes vibeslike, sometimes like a horn. They play Catalina Bar & Grill, Mon.-Tues., Jan. 22-23. Also at Catalina, Swedish guitarist Tomas Janzon celebrates his latest superb effort, Coast to Coast (i.e., Stockholm and L.A.), Wed., Jan. 24. Accordion-wise (seriously, JazzTimes says it’s back), NYC’s The Four Bags (accordionist Jacob Garchik alongside sax/clarinet, trombone and guitar) do Land on 2nd, Thurs., Jan 25.

—Brick Wahl