A Stellar Group of Artists Headed This Way

Though the earthquake and its aftershocks still have many Southern California residents a bit unnerved, the shifting earth apparently isn’t keeping some of the world’s top jazz performers from coming to town. In the next two weeks, such notable artists as Kenny Burrell, Eliane Elias, Cassandra Wilson, Ronny Jordan, Joe Williams, Joe Zawinul, Charlie Haden’s Quartet West, Roy Hargrove, Gene Harris, Nat Adderley and the Black/Note ensemble will be spotlighted throughout the area.

Guitarist Burrell, who continues a three-night stand tonight and Saturday at the Jazz Bakery in Culver City, is the Detroit native whose golden tone and right-on-the-money rhythmic flair have made him a consistent favorite in jazz circles since the late ‘50s.

For 15 years, New York resident Burrell has spent part of each year in Los Angeles, teaching a winter quarter class in Ellingtonia at UCLA.

Burrell sees Ellington’s music as continually growing in stature. “He is one of, if not the , most important musician of the 20th Century,” Burrell says. “His music is so valuable, so American. He uses the American sound in his music, getting the essence of what this country is all about.”

Bassist Haden and trumpeter Hargrove hold forth tonight at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, and singer Williams delivers Saturday at the Irvine Barclay Theater in Irvine.

Black/Note, which appears tonight and Saturday at Atlas on Wilshire, is the vigorous, youthful L.A.-based quintet led by bassist Mark Shelby. “We’re trying to present a sound of our own, not sounding like groups of the past,” says Shelby. “We’re not hard bop, not be-bop, not cool, but maybe a fusion of all three.”

Next Tuesday, the bluesy, crowd-pleasing pianist Gene Harris and his dynamic quartet--featuring guitarist Ron Eschete, bassist Luther Hughes and drummer Paul Humphrey--begin a seven-night stand at Catalina Bar & Grill. Keyboardist-composer Joe Zawinul, making a rare club appearance, follows Harris into Catalina’s on Feb. 15.

On Thursday, singer Cassandra Wilson, whose “Blue Light ‘Til Dawn” album is No. 4 on the current Billboard magazine jazz chart, slides into the Troubadour in West Hollywood. Pianist Elias holds forth at Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena the same night.

“Blue Light” finds Wilson exploring vehicles not associated with jazz singers, from Joni Mitchell’s “Black Crow” and Van Morrison’s “Tupelo Honey” to the Robert Johnson blues “Hellhound on My Trail.” The vocalist says the project, which differs greatly from her past albums, is her way of revisiting her past.

“I grew up doing folk music and blues, and I had basically forgotten this part of my musical life because I had taken on the jazz mantle,” Wilson said from a hotel in Seattle, where she appeared recently. “It’s important for your growth and development to go beyond what people expect, and to look inside. You see all kinds of things.”

Following Wilson into the Troubadour will be British guitarist Ronny Jordan, who appears Feb. 11. (He also plays the Strand in Redondo Beach on Feb. 13, the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano on Feb. 14, and Ole Madrid in San Diego on Feb. 15.)

Jordan’s “The Quiet Revolution” album is No. 9 on the Billboard contemporary jazz chart and spotlights the guitarist, 31, blending jazz moods with hip-hop rhythms and some rapping.

“I respect the great jazz people of the yesteryear, like Wes Montgomery, but I do feel now’s the time for new ideas and new directions,” said Jordan from his home in London. “Jazz and hip-hop can go together, but it has to be done by a jazz musician, because the improvisation is the flavor of jazz. And it should be a young jazz musician who’s not stuck in the old ways.”

Wilson and Jordan’s appearances at the Troubadour mark a change in the club’s booking policy, which has eschewed jazz in the past. “We’re hoping to do more jazz. We’ll see how these two go,” says a spokesperson for the club, “We’re definitely developing an open market right now.”

Cornetist Adderley takes part in a benefit for his late brother, Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, when his quintet, and an all-star big band play on Feb. 12 at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center, a new hall on the campus of Cal State Long Beach.

A new, untitled work by trumpeter Cecil Bridgewater, commissioned by the International Assn. of Jazz Appreciation and co-funded by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation and AT&T;, will be premiered at the event. The piece, dedicated to altoist Adderley, will be performed by a large ensemble featuring Adderley, Bridgewater, altoists Vincent Herring and Antonio Hart, trombonists Thurman Green and Garnett Brown, bassist Walter Booker and drummer Jimmy Cobb.