A jazzy tribute

Elia Powers

Some bands spend months rehearsing for their first live performance,

fine-tuning every musical standard and calculating every stage move.

Not the Cannonball-Coltrane Project, a Southern California-based

jazz quintet that celebrates its fourth year of existence with four

shows this weekend at the Orange County Performing Arts Center’s Jazz

Club.

At the band’s June 2002 debut at Kikuya Restaurant in Huntington

Beach, each member studied his part and became well-versed in the

music of jazz legends Cannonball Adderley and John Coltrane, after

whom the band is named.

But the entire group, comprising musicians from across the region,

had never stepped on stage together.

“It was a really scary night,” said alto saxophonist Bruce Babad

of the band’s debut concert. “The music was so hard to play, and we

were trying to pay homage to two great artists.”

Two-and-a-half years later, the Cannonball-Coltrane Project is

still keeping the memory of its namesakes alive through music. The

group makes its Founders Hall debut at the Orange County Performing

Arts Center tonight and Saturday, with shows each night at 7:30 and

9:30 p.m. Tickets are $56 for the 7:30 p.m. shows and $52 for 9:30

p.m. shows.

The band primarily will be playing tunes from its December 2004

release, “Luther Hughes and the Cannonball-Coltrane Project.” That

album, the group’s first, is on sale for $15.

Hughes, the band’s founder and bassist, said this weekend’s

performance is a significant one for the group.

“[Founders Hall] is one of the most prestigious rooms in the

country,” Hughes said. “We are very excited to play where so many

famous acts have played.”

It’s especially gratifying for Hughes, who pieced together the

band on a whim. After being inspired by the 1959 album “The

Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago,” Hughes decided to form a

five-piece ensemble to replicate the original arrangement.

He called on old friends and jazz professionals whom he thought

could bring out the “deep feeling” behind Adderley and Coltrane’s

music.

Hughes brought in tenor saxophonist Glenn Cashman and Babad to

fill the brass section. He rounded off the quintet with pianist Tom

Ranier and drummer Paul Kreibich.

And the group’s debut exceeded Hughes’ expectations.

“Originally, my thought was, this would be a fun thing to do for

one night,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking past that. When we played,

the chemistry was there. The crowd enjoyed it way more than I thought

they would.”

The buzz from the band’s first show led to bookings at various

Orange County jazz festivals and clubs.

Last September, the group played a 45-minute set at the 10th

annual West Coast Jazz Party in Irvine. Festival president and

co-founder Joe Rothman said the band was one of the top attractions

there.

Howard Rumsey, an influential figure in the Southern California

jazz scene and an expert in “bee-bop” music, said the band members

are some of the West Coast’s top studio players.

“They are great students and can expand on what Coltrane and

Cannonball did,” Rumsey said. “I can’t think of any other group that

is better qualified to do what they are doing.”

And the group has stuck to its roots, continuing to add new

elements to old Adderley and Coltrane standards. The band also writes

original music that captures the style of the two artists.

Though they play fewer than 15 shows together each year, band

members say they’ve progressed nevertheless.

“It’s easier for us now,” Babad said. “We’ve clearly defined

ourselves as a tribute band that plays original music as well.”

And Hughes is happy with that role.

“No one is ever going to perform the original work better than the

masters,” he said. “It has never been our intention to surpass what

they did. We want to pay our respects.”