JAZZ REVIEW : CURTIS PEAGLER DIGS UP SOUNDS FROM THE PAST

An occasional visitor lately to the Nucleus Nuance has been the one-time Count Basie alto saxophonist Curtis Peagler.

He was on hand Tuesday evening, not quite certain what rhythm section had been booked to accompany him. At least he enjoyed an opportunity to check them out before working with them, since they played the first two numbers as a trio.

On drums was the ever reliable Albert (Tootie) Heath, who will be bringing his own quartet back here shortly. The bassist was another stalwart, John B. Williams. At the piano was Dwight Dickerson, an able though faintly florid soloist and a capable component of the backup team. The three offered unspectacularly agreeable return visits to such perennial stamping grounds as “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You” and “Quiet Nights.”

Peagler, an imposing, tall, shaven-headed figure, then took to the stand and raced through a few rounds of Sonny Rollins’ “Oleo” with time out for statements by all the sidemen, including Heath, whose drum solo succeeded in quieting a fitfully interested crowd.

Next, Peagler excavated all the way back to 1923 for a revisionist look at Irving Berlin’s “What’ll I Do,” followed by a second ballad, “Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me.” Both were replete with enough double-time passages to put his impressive neo-Charlie Parker chops on display. Of course, if Peagler owes a debt to Bird, the same assessment might be made of almost any saxophonist who has come into earshot during the last 40 years.