Drummer Haynes Proves He Can Still Swing With the Best

Do New York rhythm sections really play with a harder-edged swing than players from the rest of the country? Your answer probably depends on where you live. But one thing’s for sure: New York rhythm sections that have Roy Haynes at the helm of the drums swing at least as much as rhythm sections from anywhere.

Doubters are directed to Catalina Bar & Grill, where Haynes is holding forth with his quartet through Sunday. In Tuesday night’s opening set, seated behind a minimalist drum kit that would barely make up half the setup of an average rock musician, he was astounding.

At 72, Haynes played with at least as much vigor, enthusiasm and sheer force as he did 40 years ago. And his drumming, always filled with contrasts, also flowed with a mature but subtle self-confidence. Every accent he played, every cymbal crash, every roiling bass drum hit was exactly right, no more and no less than was necessary at any given point in the music.

Haynes’ playing, in other words, stretching across a program of standards, blues and Thelonious Monk tunes, was something special to hear and to see. And drummers of all ages and skill levels would benefit from experiencing this superb veteran in action.

Listening to Haynes alone would have been worthwhile, but the musical ante was upped considerably by his quartet, which included saxophonist Ron Blake, pianist Dave Kikoski and bassist Dwayne Burno. Working with great compatibility as a unit, they were also extraordinarily fine soloists. Blake, especially on tenor saxophone, was a technical wizard, using his rapid-fingered skills in pieces such as Monk’s “Trinkle Tinkle” to generate solos that used John Coltrane as a starting point before moving into far-ranging orbits of their own.

Kikoski, looking like a wild-eyed jazz version of Lyle Lovett, ripped off choruses filled with phrases that tripped easily across bar lines and, in “Darn That Dream,” managed to mix Chopinesque inflections with driving, bop rhythms.

Burno was the perfect bassist for the group, his on-top-of-the-beat lines providing a vigorous lift for Haynes’ in-the-pocket drumming.

It was a set, in short, that transcended its source--not just good New York jazz, it was just good jazz. And if the enthusiastic, full house crowd, on its feet and cheering at the close of the set, is any indication, Haynes will be delivering his irresistible message to plenty of happy jazz fans before the week is out.

*

* The Roy Haynes Quartet at Catalina Bar & Grill through Sunday. 1640 N. Cahuenga Blvd., (213) 466-2210. $16 cover, with two-drink minimum. Shows at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m.