Live behind the Orange Curtain

Paul Saitowitz

The deluge of notes running up and down the fret board, accompanied

by the soaring saxophone, walking bass line and odd-timed beat, all

coming from a dark basement-level room, recalls Miles Davis, John

Coltrane and Charlie Christian.

Live jazz is not something one would expect to find filling the

night behind the Orange Curtain, but the Todd Oliver Quartet has

brought the spirit of 1960s jazz back to life in Costa Mesa.

The group’s namesake began playing guitar as a child and slowly

evolved from a rock ‘n’ roll player to a jazzman.

“About 10 years ago, a friend of mine bought me a Wes Montgomery

tape, and from that point on I was intrigued with playing jazz,”

Oliver said.

Rounded out by Martin Mathews on saxophone, Cliff Stratton on bass

and Chris Wabich and Lorca Hart manning the drums on given nights,

the quartet has been largely responsible for the rebirth of jazz

among younger people in this area.

At regular gigs at La Cave on 17th Street on Wednesday and

Saturday nights, and a Thursday night stint at Memphis on Bristol

Street, the hip crowd makes it virtually impossible to get in after

10 p.m.

“We’re really fortunate. We get a young almost Bohemian crowd that

is really into experiencing live art in the environments we play in,”

Mathews said.

The group began playing together seven years ago, and over the

years the sound has changed as the members have become better at

their instruments.

“Jazz is basically a musical conversation, and as we’ve become

better players, we’ve discarded reading music and we just kind of go

with the flow of what’s happening,” Mathews said.

The last two weeks of April, the quartet will be traveling to

Romania, Bosnia and Macedonia to play for American troops stationed

there.

“Our drummer was contacted by an agent who books those shows, and

we were asked to it,” Oliver said. “It’s a little scary, but also a

great honor for us.”

Before the trip the group will be heading into the studio to

record an album of mostly original songs, with a few standards thrown

in. The idea is to have a record to sell at shows.

Capturing the spontaneity of the live jazz performance won’t be

difficult for the group, which has never practiced in its seven

years.

“We definitely work hard and practice on our own, but that is not

what jazz is all about,” Oliver said. “Its about being spontaneous

and going with the feel of what’s going on.”

With most members in their mid to late 30s, the players are just

beginning to hit their stride as musicians.

“Most of my favorite musicians are really ancient people, and

that’s the great thing about jazz,” Mathews said. “For us, his is a

life commitment, and it’s something that we really love doing and

plan on doing for as long as we can.”