JAZZ REVIEW : Good Music by Garson Quartet in Unlikely Setting

You can say one thing about the Da Camera Society’s Chamber Music in Historic Sites series: The surrounding will never be boring. One example: Sunday afternoon’s concert by the Mike Garson Quartet at the Citadel.

If the name of the site is unfamiliar, just recall the Assyrian-looking structure on the west side of the Santa Ana Freeway in the City of Commerce. Once the manufacturing plant for the United States Rubber Co., it has now been converted to a large shopping mall.

Perhaps wisely, pianist-composer Garson’s appearance made no special connections with the building’s cast concrete simulations of the palaces of Sargon II. But he did arrive with a typically broad-based program that accurately depicted his far-reaching musical interests.

The quartet--which included saxophonist Brandon Fields, bassist Bob Harrison and drummer Gary Novak--applied state-of- the-art contemporary jazz methods to a set of pieces ranging from Garson originals like “Illumination” (originally written for the group Free Flight) to Dave Brubeck’s “Blue Rondo a la Turk.” Cellist Gregg Gottlieb joined the ensemble for the latter work, as well as for several trio numbers with Garson and Fields.

Garson seemed at ease in virtually every setting. His playing was as richly harmonic on the standard “Sweet and Lovely” as it was funkily rhythmic on “Brooklyn Blues.” He used a “Gershwin Medley”--as he frequently does--to display his bristling technical prowess, then demonstrated an almost New Age-like lyricism with “Plain and Simple.”

Fields, always an interesting player, sounded a bit more reserved than he does with his own ensembles. Harrison soloed with a great deal of energy, and Novak’s precise, high-voltage drumming provided an unshakeable foundation for the contemporary pieces.

The Da Camera Society’s production deserves special mention. Its management of every detail of the concert--from the seating to the printed program--was done with a professional care far exceeding what is done with most jazz events.