Time is no problem for ageless Haynes

Listening to the Roy Haynes quartet at Catalina Bar & Grill Thursday night brought to mind a poignant moment in the film “Sideways.� It’s where the character Maya (played by Virginia Madsen) talks about a wine’s “life,� saying, “I think about all those people who tended and picked the grapes, and if it’s an old wine, how many of them must be dead by now.�

What’s the connection? Simply that Haynes, who turned 81 last month, is a vintage player, still very much at his peak. And experiencing the quality of his drumming called up memories of the long-gone icons with whom he played over the years: Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie. Yet here was Haynes, leading a group of talented young players, not only playing with vigor and imagination, but with a style that combined rich, traditional fluency with vigorous contemporary energies.

The absence of music stands and written arrangements made it instantly apparent that the quartet -- Haynes, and the fine young trio of alto saxophonist Marcus Strickland, pianist Martin Bejarano and bassist John Sullivan -- was a stable organization. The subtle interplay in each piece affirmed the symbiosis that can take place when talented jazz artists work together on a continuing basis.

At one point, Strickland and Bejarano exchanged solo passages while Haynes backed them with a propulsive flow that was simultaneously supportive and rhythmically contrapuntal. The Vernon Duke-Ira Gershwin ballad “I Can’t Get Started� began with a tender a cappella opening from Strickland, expanded into a richly layered solo with full quartet. And when Haynes took a solo using mallets -- a formula for superficial exoticism with most drummers -- he instead created a gripping soundscape, texturally building to a crisp, rhythmically driven take on one of the most unlikely of jazz subjects, “My Heart Belongs to Daddy.�

Bands led by drummers often suffer from balance problems, with snare, cymbals and tom-toms dominating the proceedings. Not so with Haynes, who led by urging, stimulating and supporting, soloing with a gripping combination of inventiveness and swing, bringing maturity and musicality to everything he touched.