Staying on bop

Blue Note 7’s pianist and musical director Bill Charlap said he acts as a guide to see that the band represents as many artists, moods and types of compositional frameworks as possible.

“We’ve each chosen pieces that spoke to us and were our favorites, and acted as arrangers of music,” he said.

The Blue Note 7, an all-star group of Blue Note artists, will pay homage to jazz legends including Art Blakey, Herbie Hancock and Joe Henderson at the Samueli Theatre in Costa Mesa on Jan. 23 and 24 as part of their debut-album U.S. tour and in celebration of the label’s 70th anniversary.

“Mosaic: A Celebration of Blue Note Records” was released on Jan. 13.

Charlap, trumpeter Nicholas Payne, saxophonist and flutist Steve Wilson, tenor saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, guitarist Peter Bernstein, bassist Peter Washington and drummer Lewis Nash will perform the eight tracks from the album in addition to other “book” tunes, Blue Note 7 Touring Producer Danny Melnick said.

The compositions of modern jazz, swing and blues have been pulled from great artists of earlier times, Charlap said, but have been rearranged in the Blue Note 7’s own style.

“We approach [their] music in our own way and put our stamp on it,” he said. “The members of this band are among the finest improvisers in jazz today. Each one has a distinctive musical voice encompassing the past, present and future of the art form.”

The band members have performed with jazz legends and with one another in various couplings over the years, before coming together in May, when they began rehearsing and recording the album.

“We all have a relationship with this music and to each other,” Charlap said. “There is a natural chemistry [in our group] which is extra-musical.”

They have performed live as the Blue Note 7 on only four occasions, and will continue touring the U.S. through April, before going on a European tour.

The band has already written several more compositions and continues to write on tour. Charlap anticipates Volumes 2 and 3 in the future.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: The Blue Note 7

WHEN: 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jan. 23 and 24

WHERE: The Samueli Theatre, Orange County Performing Arts Center, Costa Mesa

INFORMATION: Tickets are $64. Visit www.ocpac.org for information or to purchase tickets.