Straight-ahead on a current curve: Steve Allee's Magic Hour band plays Jazz Kitchen

Steve Allee has shown his mettle in various contexts.

It's surprised me a bit for 30 years now that I still enjoy "The Magic Hour," the CD that Steve Allee co-produced with Tom Borton in California. It may be the only music approaching "smooth jazz" that I've ever been attracted to repeatedly.

I didn't know that as leader of the contemporary Magic Hour Band, the veteran pianist-composer was not all about re-creating that music with new personnel. What I heard Friday night at the Jazz Kitchen was a top-flight exhibition of jazz on the cusp between the mellow, plugged-in sounds of the old CD and the more aggressive contemporary acoustic mainstream that Allee has occupied with many other musicians.

The second set allowed me to set aside my residual discomfort with smooth jazz while allowing some of its vibes to resonate. The extra keyboard sounds provided by Shawn McGowan provided a lot of that, in addition to the leader's having a small electronic keyboard to turn to besides his usual grand piano. 

In addition, trumpeter Marlin McKay had at his disposal electronic supplements he could easily activate

Magic Hour: Allee, Dixon, McKay, Wood, Floyd (McGowan hidden)

to create either a parallel trumpet line or an imitation wah-wah mute. Local electric-bass maestro Jon Wood was on hand to anchor the sound, and Richard "Sleepy" Floyd was consistent in laying down funk-inspired drumming that is much more life-like and responsive than the drum programming used on "The Magic Hour."

After opening with an unaccompanied piano cadenza based on "We Gather Together," a salute to Thanksgiving, the band played the only piece from the old CD, "Quantum Soup." Solo spotlights shone on saxophonist Rob Dixon and trumpeter McKay, as they would to repeated good effect throughout the generously proportioned set.

New pieces by Rob Dixon made a strong showing throughout the performance. The first indication was the urgency and dash of "Big Time," which had a couple of those horn spotlights just mentioned.  At the very end came a Dixon piece with more cosmic big times in view: "Dreams in the Exosphere."  The tempo was very fast and the textures thickened, weaving into the tapestry excellent solos by the composer, McGowan, and Wood. Earlier, in Dixon's far-reaching evocation of a crucial decade, "The Eighties," the capacity audience heard an explosive but never wasteful Floyd solo enlivened by coordinated horn punctuation.

Wood had given an earlier sample of his mastery in Joe Sample's "Spellbound" and was also concise and expressive in the band's tribute to the late Benny Golson with the evergreen "Stablemates." That performance offered a good indication of the tight ensemble this band is capable of. It also had admirable soloing from Dixon, who has a way of starting phrases that sort of fall away, but don't fall off; instead, they are nicely rounded off, with deft elaboration as they proceed.

Reaching back to another CD in the Allee discography ("Mirage"), the band played "Lips," switching in the front line to a tasty blend of Dixon's soprano sax and McKay's muted trumpet. Allee focused on his plugged-in keyboard for an organlike sound on another old original —"Yummy," which gloried in an extended coda. Just as with Thanksgiving feasting, the appetite for this band will return, with more yummy fulfillment to come. 

All told, I didn't miss "The Magic Hour" as much as I thought I might. And the rest of smooth jazz can take care of itself.