A Saxophonist of Many Sounds : Musician: Brandon Fields, who grew up in Fountain Valley and will play at El Matador on Monday, draws his inspiration from multiple musical traditions.

Something old, something new. The phrase nicely sums up saxophonist Brandon Fields’ source of musical inspiration.

“I still consider myself a student, listening to all different types of music and trying to apply them to my musical sense,” he said. “I search out the new stuff, contemporary music, the stuff that’s playing right now, as well as researching as much old material as I can find. For me, that’s a never-ending process: to stay in touch with what’s happening now as well as what’s gone before.”

But Fields, who joins fluegelhornist Tony Guerrero and bassist Luther Hughes’ trio New Year’s Eve at El Matador restaurant in the Huntington Harbour Mall, has a sound that’s decidedly contemporary. His latest recording, “Other Places” (Nova), gives the wily saxophonist a chance to squirm and scream on originals with solid bass lines and accessible rhythms that reflect an early exposure to pop music.

“My roots are more R & B-oriented,” he explained recently from his home in North Hollywood. “I listened to a lot of Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Nancy Wilson. From them I learned how to perform, the art of nuance, how to deliver the material. There’s something about the way a great singer puts across the melody that does something to me. I’ve been influenced more by singers, really, than saxophonists.”

Born in Indiana, Fields began his musical training while growing up in Fountain Valley. His mother, a keyboard major in college, started Fields and his three sisters on the piano at age 5.

He credits his parents with providing lots of support. “They would go out and buy all kinds of instruments--a trombone one week, a drum set the next. The one that really felt good to me was the alto,” he said.

He cites two experiences that turned him on to jazz. While he was in high school in Santa Ana, his father took him to see Supersax, the band dedicated to Charlie Parker charts. “I just liked the sound of five saxes playing together like that,” he said. And there was the first time he heard saxophonist Michael Brecker.

“It was about a year later,” he said. “We’d gone to a concert in San Diego, and they were playing (drummer) Billy Cobham’s album ‘Crosswind’ in-between Chicago and Santana. And I thought, ‘Who is this guy playing sax?’ It was better than the stuff we’d paid to see.”

Fields interrupted music studies at Cal State Fullerton in 1976 to travel with a Top 40 group in Canada. On his return, he hooked up with Charles (Doc) Rutherford’s big band at Orange Coast College, where he met other Orange County-based musicians like trombonist Mike Fahn and fellow saxophonist Eric Marienthal. These associations led to a long engagement in the early ‘80s at the Studio Cafe in Balboa with, among others, Chick Corea’s bassist John Patitucci.

Fields has also worked with Les Hooper, Victor Feldman and George Benson over the years. But he’s best known for his association with the Rippingtons, the electric instrumental band led by guitarist Russ Freeman. “I never had too much artistic say in the band,” he said. “Russ liked the way I played his material, and I liked playing it.”

Though heard on the Rippingtons’ latest recording, he hasn’t appeared live with the group for well over a year. “I just felt that I wanted to spend more time doing my own thing,” he said. “With the success that my own record (1988’s “The Traveler”) had, it was time to branch out. But I’m really thankful to have been involved with a group that allowed so many people to hear me.”

Unlike the Rippingtons, Fields’ band is more democratic in its selection of material. “I want to be part of a band where everyone makes a contribution, a band that’s more than just a reflection of my personality,” he explained. “Even though I’m the motivating force behind the group, I also rely on everybody’s input.” The new band, with keyboardist Dave Goldblatt and bassist John Pena, will record Fields’ fourth solo album sometime in January. Unlike “Other Places,” which features singer Phil Perry on a pair of cuts, the new album will be all instrumental. “I want to represent most of what we do on the album live. There have been some songs that we really couldn’t do live because I felt they weren’t strong enough to perform without the singer. I’ve never been into having a singer on a gig,” Fields said.

The saxophonist likes the idea of being in jam-oriented sessions like the one Monday at El Matador. “I don’t like to go on a gig and have to read a lot of music,” he said. “It takes some of the enjoyment away, some of the spontaneity that can happen when you’re playing standards. I’m looking forward to just going out and playing with these guys.”

Brandon Fields appears with Tony Guerrero and the Luther Hughes Trio on Monday night at 8:30 at El Matador restaurant, 16903 Algonquin Blvd., Huntington Beach. Cover charge is $35, including dinner; $20 for the show only. (714) 846-5337.