Roxy Music in the Valley From a Real-Life Baker Boy

Two San Fernando Valley jazz venues--one new, one an established room--have stepped in to fill the gap left when the popular Alfonse’s in North Hollywood closed on Jan. 31.

The established room is Chadney’s (3000 W. Olive Ave., Burbank), where such jazz players and jazz-oriented singers as Jack Sheldon and Polly Podewell are being booked five nights a week.

The new arrival is Roxy’s, a two-level nightclub nestled in the Warner Center Hilton Hotel and Towers, 6360 Canoga Ave., Woodland Hills. The jazz policy at this high-tech room is under the direction of pianist John Hammond, who has served as the musical director for Carmen McRae, the Jackson Five, Lainie Kazan and “a whole lot of other people,” and who was recently heard on the sound track playing Beau Bridges’ piano parts in “The Fabulous Baker Boys.”

“My plan is to give the people real music on real terms, with no show-biz,” says Hammond of his plans for Roxy’s. “I want the high-quality player to come out and do what he does. There’s nothing like this in the west end of the valley.”

The current policy calls for Hammond’s trio, with bassist Tom Warrington and drummer Mark Pulice, to work Tuesdays-Fridays from 5:30-9:30 p.m, and Saturdays from 8:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m., with various guest artists. At present, reedman Ray Pizzi works Tuesdays, singer Cathy Segal-Garcia (Wednesdays and Saturdays)--”She’ll be my mainstay, particularly on the weekends”--and saxophonist Tommy Newsom (Thursdays). Hammond will lead a quintet on Friday with various personnel. The room will impose neither a cover charge nor a minimum.

As to why Hammond, 48, who has been accompanying Segal-Garcia regularly at Drake’s in Glendale, wanted to run a room, he says, “I’ve played for everybody, and there comes a time when you have to do it for yourself. I just want to play good music with the best possible players.”

Though he’s starting with area players who have solid followings, Hammond notes that “hopefully the hotel will want to get some larger names once they get the room on the map.”

The pianist, a native of Houston who has lived in Southern California 25 years, started out to be a concert artist when he discovered jazz. “It swept me away,” he says. “I realized it was more important to express myself musically than to play everybody else’s music.”

Hammond was thrilled to have “sidelined” (studio parlance for playing a musical part that is depicted by an actor on camera) Beau Bridges’ piano parts in “Baker Boys.” “It was the first thing I’ve done like that, I’m really excited about it and maybe it’ll be a launching board,” he says.

Describing the process of creating the duo-piano parts that form the basis of Dave Grusin’s Academy Award-nominated score, Hammond says, “Dave (who played Jeff Bridges’ parts) and I just went in head to head and start playing. Nothing was written out, though we worked from sheet music. It was just, ‘Well, how should we do this one?’ Dave had to portray the Bill Evans-type player, who was played by Jeff Bridges, and they wanted me to portray his more substantial older brother.

“They didn’t ask me to play badly, but they did ask me to play schmaltzy. Some of the outtakes are really hokey,” he laughs.

Hammond found he was “shocked” at the difficulty of some of his improvisations, which were later transcribed so that pianists Lou Forestieri and Joyce Collins could teach the Bridges brothers how to play their parts. “I would hate to have to read that stuff in the studio,” he jokes.

One outcome of Hammond’s increased exposure through “Baker Boys” and Roxy’s could be a solo album. “I’d like that,” he says. “If not, I’ll keep doing what I’m doing, have fun and make a dollar.”