JAZZ REVIEW : Seems Like Old Times : Saxophonist Gato Barbieri’s often-used repertoire and delivery have appeal, but it sometimes wore thin at his Coach House concert.

Is it fair to say that if you’ve heard one Gato Barbieri show, you’ve heard them all?

Darn near.

The tenor saxophonist from Argentina, who played the Coach House Wednesday night, has relied since the late ‘70s on a limited repertoire--several of the key selections still are drawn from his 1976 A&M; album “Caliente!”--and over the years, he pretty much has delivered these pieces in a similar manner.

But, we must note, that manner can be very appealing.

Take his rendition Wednesday of Carlos Santana’s “Europa” (which, along with “Last Tango in Paris,” has become the saxman’s anthem). Nattily decked out in black (jacket, shirt, shoes and trademark fedora) and white (slacks and long scarf), the 58-year-old Barbieri first offered a passionate, unembellished reading of the song’s slow, evocative, ringing melody. He did this standing still, horn hanging to his right, his one-of-a-kind 3-G tone (part gold, part gleam, part grit) backed simply by Edy Martinez’s piano.

Barbieri soon grew more intense, adding whizzing lines between brief phrases of the melody, and bending his knees as if to emphasize the notes. Then bassist Paul Socolow and drummer Robert Gonzales joined in, underlining the sax with a medium-slow bossa-rock beat. After a few moments of that, Barbieri, like a battle officer directing a charge, dramatically thrust his right arm straight up toward the ceiling, index finger extended, and held the pose for some seconds.

It seemed to be his way of telling his troops “OK, let’s do it.” But suddenly, the band dropped out, leaving the leader to play soft and telling. And then there was silence.

But not for long. Martinez soloed for a bit until Barbieri grabbed the microphone, shouted “hey, hey!” and started blowing loud, vigorous lines. These were some blurry repeats and some on-the-beat attacks that sounded like a row of exclamation points. Barbieri started moving about the stage. As the piece became more frenzied, he returned to the mike, exhorted his comrades and the crowd with a “yeah! ho!,” and closed the piece with a sky-high, close-to-piercing tone.

Mostly-in-motion Barbieri employed this up-and-down pattern--building to a climax, dropping to quiet, then building once more--on each number. During “Bahia,” “Last Tango” and others, he only hinted at the melody, preferring to go with groups of notes that swirled like car wheels spinning in the dirt, and sizzling, high notes that threatened to burst through the roof of the room. With “What a Difference a Day Made,” he gave the melody more attention.

But in any case, he was soloing almost constantly through the 90-minute set, while Martinez, Gonzales and Socolow worked like madmen, solidly supporting their oft-wailing boss.

For some in the audience, the appeal of it all began to wear thin as one number after another sounded the same. But others cheered until the house lights went on.

Sound Minds, an Orange County-based trio, opened the program with an odd assemblage of pop-jazz-metal originals. Ed Bryant, alternating between sax and keyboards, played with an overly rich tone, creating a wall of sound with long, held notes and repeating flurries on top of steaming though not necessarily catchy rhythms by bassist John Otutt and drummer Clayton Simmons. There was something unique about the songs, but more effective soloing would enhance the band’s show.

Gato Barbieri plays tonight at the Strand, 1700 Pacific Coast Highway, Redondo Beach. (310) 316-1700.