JAZZ REVIEW : Bop Veteran Red Rodney at Catalina’s

Red Rodney, currently leading a quintet at Catalina’s, is a creator and an innovator in a world presently populated by younger musicians who, not having enjoyed his wealth of experience, are busy researching and trying to re-create.

Rodney has this advantage because his credentials go all the way back to his celebrated stint with Charlie Parker; he was portrayed (and played on the sound track) in the movie “Bird,” whose director, Clint Eastwood, was in the audience cheering him on at his opening Tuesday.

The bop idiom in which Rodney was a vital participant never seems to go stale when it is presented with the confidence and continuous sense of invention this 63-year-old survivor brings to it. Whether on trumpet or fluegelhorn, he reveals in every solo an innate understanding of this demanding form.

His repertoire today is a healthy blend of early bop standards such as “Little Willie Leaps” (Miles Davis, 1947) to a recent piece by Rodney’s ex-pianist Garry Dial, “In Case of Fire,” and a work dedicated to him, “Red Snapper,” written by fellow trumpeter Bobby Shew.

He is aided immensely by the presence of a startling new talent. Chris Potter plays tenor sax, soprano sax and alto sax in a style as assured and intuitive as anyone can be at age 19. For his solo specialty he played none of the above; replacing Frank Strazzeri at the piano, he offered a version of “Everything Happens to Me” that was understated and unconventional but never unimaginative. It seems safe to predict that by 2000, when Potter will be 29, he will be a major force in jazz.

With Strazzeri, bassist Jimmy Hoff and drummer Paul Kreibich as his supporters, Rodney was in sensitive rhythmic company. These men clearly share his understanding of a music out of which many giants emerged but too many are now long gone.

The quintet closes Sunday.