Roney and Friends a Holiday Highlight

Just a year and a half ago, trumpeter Wallace Roney came to prominence as one of the brightest lights in the jazz world.

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The then-31-year-old was playing the trumpet chair in the 1992 version of V.S.O.P., the all-star quintet that also included saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams, all former associates of Miles Davis. Roney appeared with the unit, which was formed to celebrate the music and spirit of Davis, who had died the previous September. The young trumpeter had been on the bandstand with Davis in one of his last public appearances, when he played some classic Gil Evans charts with a big band at the Montreux Jazz Festival in July, 1991.

Roney gained significant public exposure playing with V.S.O.P. in the United States, Europe and Asia, which no doubt led to his recent record deal with Warner Bros., but he’s not really concerned with the career boost the experience apparently generated.

“I don’t know if I got a lot of visibility from V.S.O.P.,” the soft-spoken Roney says. “That wasn’t the point of the band. I was just trying to play and do the things I believed in. That’s just what I’m doing now, trying to be artistically honest, trying to play forward-looking, progressive music.”

Roney, who is also a member of drummer Williams’ quintet, will be in Los Angeles next Tuesday through Sunday, including New Year’s Eve, as part of a top-drawer unit that plays Catalina Bar & Grill. The band’s other members are Geri Allen (piano), Kenny Garrett (alto sax), Ravi Coltrane (tenor sax), Robert Hurst (bass) and Ralph Penland (drums).

“These are my friends, and I’m always looking forward to playing with them. We’ve never all played together, but anything these guys do is creative,” said Roney, who just completed his last album for Muse, for whom he was long under contract. The trumpeter will go into the studios in early January to record for Warners, and while he didn’t want to say much about the album, he did say that it will include both quintet tracks, and tracks spotlighting trumpet and strings.

Allen, whose most current album is “Maroons” on Blue Note Records, also has a strong musical connection with many of the players appearing at Catalina’s. She grew up in Detroit with Hurst and Garrett, and she’s appeared with Roney in both nightclubs and on record. She feels the Catalina band, which is the highlight of the Southern California New Year’s Eve jazz lineup, will offer an interesting variety of material.

Information: (213) 466-2210.

More Jazz on New Year’s Eve: Former “Tonight Show” players Tommy Newsom (saxes), Conte Candoli (trumpet) and Ed Shaughnessy (drums) are among the headliners of Indian Wells Jazz, being held Dec. 31 to Jan 2 at the Stouffer Esmeralda and the Hyatt Grand Champions resorts in Indian Wells, near Palm Springs. Also on the bill: jazz and blues shouter Linda Hopkins, such traditional jazz bands as the Chicago Six and Swing Savant, Queen Ida and her Bon Temps Zydeco Band and violinist Susie Hansen’s spirited Latin jazz band. Information: (310) 799-6055. . . . Son Mayor, holding forth New Year’s Eve at the Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City is “one of the best salsa bands in L.A.,” says Hansen. Working in a different room, but on the same night as Son Mayor, will be the big-band sounds of Art Slade. Information: (818) 984-0202.

Other Sound New Year’s Eve Choices: Drummer Jake Hanna fronts a trio, with ace pianist Ross Tompkins and singer Polly Podewell, at Chadney’s in Burbank, (818) 843-5333. . . . Brazilian singer Bill Cantos enlivens things at Le Cafe in Sherman Oaks, (818) 986-2662. . . . Intriguing pianist Alan Broadbent, plus spark-plug drummer Joe LaBarbera, blow out 1993 at the Jazz Bakery in Culver City, (310) 271-9039. . . . Rollicking pianist Hadda Brooks and the solid saxman Gordon Brisker’s Quartet kicks it up at the Club Brasserie in West Hollywood, (213) 854-1111. . . . And Barbara Morrison, who knows something about singing jazz and blues, is on tap at Birdland West in Long Beach, (310) 436-9341.