Jazz trio entertains patio diners at Tivoli Village

The temperatures are getting cooler, but things are heating up with jazz stylings from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays at Brio Tuscan Grille inside Tivoli Village, 302 S. Rampart Blvd.

The featured trio is Ambience, which plays outdoors on the patio, where all the visitors to Tivoli can hear them.

"We call it Jazz On The Terrace," said drummer Mike Candito. "A lot of people are scared by jazz. They don't understand it. But it's really the ultimate creative music."

Along with Jeff Davis on bass and Cocho Arbe on keyboards, the Ambience members said the best way to describe their sound is traditional yet contemporary. The trio is gaining a following with residents coming from as far as Centennial Hills and Henderson.

"It's really great because it's a chance to really keep the jazz alive," Candito said. "So we like to present that in an intimate setting with bebop and straight-ahead jazz, jazz that's a little more contemporary with Latin and R&B flavor. That kind of jazz kind of pulls everybody in and gets their attention. And that's when you give them the real stuff."

One night, the "real stuff" included being joined by world-renowned alto saxophonist Richie Cole. That speaks to the trio's credentials. As a singer, for example, Candito has been heard on several TV commercials, acted on TV's "The Lazarus Man" and "Hit and Run" and in the movie "Goodfellas." He tours with Gary Puckett & The Union Gap.

This afternoon, three young people were watching the musicians set up.

Lisa Marie Smith and Tina Drouin, both singers, and Paul Johnson, a guitarist and a singer, said they like the opportunity to hear jazz at Brio.

"It adds sophistication to your dining experience," Drouin said. "It introduces it to the public in places where they usually don't get exposure to live music. So it (helps form) an appreciation in people who are not in the industry."

The three Ambience members came across each other while working different gigs. When they decided to be a trio, things fell into place easily. Ambience has been playing together for only six months, but that was not apparent from their sound.

"Jeff and I, we really communicate with each other," Candito said. "We're on the same page. And once we had the chance to work with our keyboardist, we noticed that he's on the same page, too. So it's a great combination. The chemistry is really on track."

Each member writes original material, and collectively they are going to start introducing that at Jazz On The Terrace after the first of the year. As is common in live performances of the genre, Ambience does not rehearse songs but rather plays "in the moment," as that is what the music is really all about.

"Even some of the vocal tunes, some of the R&B vocal tunes that we do, we kind of stretch it out," Candito said. "We take a basic tune, and we go. 'OK, how are we going to paint this?' It's like we start with a clean slate every day. You can take a tune every day of your life, and you're going to play it differently every day of your life. ... That's the creative part of jazz, and nothing gets better than that. "

What is it like to perform in the Summerlin area?

"It's a very elegant setting, and people are here just to enjoy the atmosphere," Davis said. "What we try to do is enhance that experience as much as possible," Davis said. "They come here and are pleasantly surprised to hear the music."

Davis said Ambience has an East Coast flavor, meaning it is a little edgier, even aggressive. His own music idols include Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Cali Parker and Keith Jarrett.

Ambience played a New Year's gig last year at Tivoli Village, and a conversation with management began about having them play on a regular basis. The Jazz On The Terrace idea became a reality in April. Ambience has an open-ended contract with Brio.

"It began on an experimental basis at first," Davis said. "And then it just caught on. People walk by, and they hear the music, and they go, 'Well, this is great.' "

Playing in the summertime meant not bringing his prized 1936 Alfred Meyer bass, which was made in Germany. Instead he played an electric bass guitar. Davis will switch to the more traditional upright bass as temperatures cool.

"We try not to just lay back and play but bring more of a communication, more of an edge to the music," Davis said. "We try to play the room. It depends on the people here. We try to be communicative with what we think they want to hear. And we kind of filter in what we like to play too. So, depending on the type of crowd we have, we'll get a little more energetic as the night goes on. It just depends on the situation."

Ginger Davis comes from a Los Angeles family that established annual jazz festivals. A cousin wrote "Happy Days Are Here Again." She was there to support Ambience.

"I celebrate every day with jazz," she said. "It's inside of me."

The trio started off with a song called "Triste." It had no vocals but had undertones of "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life," which then morphed into a "The Girl From Ipanema"-esque portion. When it ended, it earned an appreciative smattering of applause from the diners. Brio's patio, which can seat about 125 people, had only about 12 people this night, as one of the presidential debates kept most people home.

Cocho said that by watching an audience member, he can tell if they are into the music or not.

"You'll do something on the piano, and you'll see them have a reaction, a positive reaction, like they appreciate it," he said, making a wish-washy gesture. "Sometimes customers have a girlfriend, and they're not paying attention. And that's fine. But other people (are)."

Contact Summerlin/Summerlin South View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 702-387-2949.