Dave Weckl Takes Center Stage

Drummers have been bandleaders from virtually the beginning of jazz history--think Ben Pollack, Chick Webb and Gene Krupa, to name a few. Some surrounded themselves with first-rate talent capable of being sparked into action by the drumming. Others placed their own playing at the focal point of attention.

Anyone who walked into Catalina Bar & Grill Tuesday night had little difficulty in anticipating which of those options to expect from the Dave Weckl Band.

In the position of honor, at center stage, occupying two thirds of the space (the grand piano had been removed), was Weckl’s enormous drum set. Shimmering with cymbals of every size (including a stacked pair), a multiplicity of percussion, from snare, tom-toms and double bass drums to bongos and the Middle Eastern djimbe, it was a percussionist’s dream come true.

Around the fringe of the drums--like satellites orbiting a dominant planet--were positions for saxophone and woodwinds (played by Brandon Fields), bass (Tom Kennedy) and keyboards (Steve Weingart). And their positioning accurately reflected how the set’s music would unfold.

Although there was ample space for soloing from the other players, they did so to the accompaniment of a barrage of drum and cymbal sounds filling every vestige of musical space around them.

Fields’ passionate tenor saxophone playing often managed to crest above the torrent of percussion, but Kennedy and Weingart--both superb players--generally found their individual choruses surfacing only as a backdrop for Weckl’s drumming.

The single relatively laid-back number in the set, an original by Weckl and Weingart titled “Passion,” provided an opportunity to finally hear the first-rate individual skills of all the musicians, their smoothly integrated ensemble work, and--most importantly--a sense of how compelling a player Weckl can be when he allows some space in his drumming.

In his gigs with other artists, Weckl takes a far less dominant role, usually playing with considerably more subtle musicality. For this week’s run at Catalina’s, however, it is his remarkable, if overwhelming, technical virtuosity that is dominating the spotlight.

The Dave Weckl Band at Catalina Bar & Grill, 1640 N. Cahuenga Blvd. Tonight at 8 and 10, $16 cover; Friday at 8:30 p.m., and Sunday at 7:30 p.m., $18 cover; Friday at 10:30 p.m. and Sunday at 9:30 p.m., $16 cover; Saturday at 8:30 p.m., $20, at 10:30 p.m. $18. Two-drink minimum. (323) 466-2210.