Talent Times 9

Jason Myers is a realist. He may love the sound of a big band, but keeping personnel together for rehearsals let alone the infrequent engagement is something he doesn’t find feasible. So he downsized his concept, and formed a nine-piece group. So far, happiness is his.

“A nonet is a small enough group to keep together, but it can have the sound of a much larger group, even a big band, if you write that way,” said Myers, a 28-year-old native of Orange, N.J., who lives in Silver Lake. “There’s so much you can do with nine pieces.”

The Myers Nonet will play Sunday at the NoHo International Theatre & Arts Festival. He said his band is essentially a jazz band, but he brings in other aspects.

“I have a calypso in the book, a Romanian folk song, a couple of groove and funk numbers,” he said. “I want to explore as much diversity as I can, trying to create an identity.”

Myers, a 1994 graduate of CalArts in Valencia, formed his band about a year ago. He wrote charts for about six months, then called musicians for rehearsals.

“I was really lucky,” he said. “I wanted this particular group of people, and the combination of all these cats is wild. It’s not like it’s me and a bunch of guys I hired to play my arrangements. It’s a band effort with a unique cast of characters. They all bring something to the band.”

The band includes Myers, guitar; James King, Javier Vegara and Geoff Gallegos, saxes; Mike Bolger, trumpet; Dan Weinstein, trombone; Dave Culwell, bass; and Mark San Filippo, drums. On Sunday, Jameson Trotter will sub for J.R. Crawford on piano.

A tape of the nonet reveals it to be a robust ensemble with a lot to say. The old bebop flag waver, “Cherokee,” sports a solid solo from Vegara, who has taken John Coltrane’s influence and made it a bit personal, and a ringing-toned effort from the leader.

“Carole Ann” is another straight-ahead piece, while “Slinger!” has a nice Caribbean feel. Myers also covers the robust Charles Mingus piece “Fables of Faubus.”

“I think it’s good music and I’m having fun doing it,” Myers said.

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BE THERE

Jason Myers’ Nonet plays Sunday at 3 p.m. at the NoHo International Theatre & Arts Festival, corner of Bakman Avenue and Weddington Street, North Hollywood. Free. Festival hotline: (818) 508-5327.

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In Brief: Saxophonist Harold Bennett, guitarist Barry Zweig and bassist Luther Hughes, among others, play Mondays at 9 p.m. at the Money Tree in Toluca Lake. (818) 752-8383.

Another saxophonist, Justo Almario, leads a band that mixes jazz with Latin elements tonight at 9:30 and 11:30 at La Ve Lee in Studio City. (818) 980-8158.

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Zan Stewart writes about jazz for the Valley Edition. He can be reached at Zansky@AOL.com.