Jazz Reviews : Huffsteter Delivers . . . as Expected

Trumpeter Steve Huffsteter is a kind of jazzman’s Steve Garvey--solid, dependable, capable.

Thursday night at the Biltmore Hotel’s Grand Avenue Bar, Huffsteter, leading an energetic eight-piece band, managed to survive a recalcitrant sound system and a noisy crowd to produce several sets of fiery, Latin-styled jazz.

Focusing most of his pieces on the powerful rhythm team of bassist Al Criado, drummer Joe Heredia and percussionist Richard Garcia, Huffsteter provided a few original lines as springboards for long, montuna -based improvisations.

Huffsteter’s trumpet solos were crisp and to the point, occasionally reminiscent of the precise playing of the late Don Ellis. On the modal “Mid-Eastern Dilemma,” Huffsteter moved further out, effectively stretching his carefully articulated lines into the squeals and sound effects of the jazz avant-garde.

Tenor saxophonist Bob Shephard, a more than adequate last-minute substitute for Justo Almario, seemed especially comfortable with the relative harmonic openness of Huffsteter’s charts. His solos on “Street Samba,” “Slow Slow” and “Mid-Eastern Dilemma” revealed how well he has mastered the post-Coltrane tenor style.

Valve trombonist Mike Fahn and keyboardist Dave Witham also contributed workmanlike solos. Huffsteter’s octet (his wife joins the group on light percussion instruments) had played together only a few times before the current gig. Their animated performance at the Biltmore suggested that a few more rehearsals and a somewhat better playing environment might result in a solid new jazz organization.