MARCIA FORMAN BAND: Geodesic Tones

The San Diego neighborhood of South Park is known for its general bonhomie. People walk their dogs to unleash them at the local dog park. Regulars great each other by name at hangouts like the Whistle Stop and coffeeshops like Seven Seas. You can meet the friendliest book lovers at the local bookstore, the Book Catapult. And most Saturday mornings, within the range of a block or so, residents and visitors can enjoy the strains of one of the sweetest sounding saxophones this side of the Mississippi. The saxophonist is Marcia Forman, and she is backed up by an equally talented band.

San Diego has some great sax players, including such heavyweights as Charles McPherson, yet of all of them Marcia Forman has the most pleasing tone. I imagine that the Angel Gabriel himself envies the timbres Forman produces on her sax (that is, if Gabriel played sax instead of horn).

Forman and her band play for the patrons and passersby of the Big Kitchen, a restaurant famous for its ultimate cool, latter-day hippie vibe. The band is often at Nate’s Garden Grill, another restaurant that has a mellow vibe, performing for the dinner crowd. Forman and her band have just released Geodesic Tones, a collection of seven standards that runs the gamut from blues and soul to ballad. The new disk is a terrific summation of the good vibe that Forman and her band have.

The disk includes the regulars of the Marcia Forman Band. There is Armand Frigon, a veteran musician who has established himself as one of San Diego’s prominent guitarists. Gedeon Deák, a professor at UCSD by day and dedicated musician the rest of the time, plays bass. (In full disclosure, I sometimes fill in for Deák when he can’t make it to a gig.) Ray Conseur is a percussionist from a musical family (his son sings opera!) who holds down the fort on drums.

Two special guests are featured on Geodesic Tones. Floyd Fronius is a violinist who has performed with a number of local bands, from Raggle Taggle to Ass Pocket Whiskey Fellas. He joins the band for several tunes. I particularly liked his comping on “Hallelujah I Love Him So” and his soloing on “The Nearness of You.” Camille Ku’ulei Sallave sings on both of these tunes. She has a smooth, even sounding voice that is matched by her delivery.

If you want to have a cool, casual time enjoying jazz, I encourage you to visit the Big Kitchen or Nate’s Garden Grill when the Marcia Forman band performs. If you can’t make a performance, the next best thing is a listen to Geodesic Tones.