An odyssey with Odeon

You say jazz is having trouble these days finding a creative focus? Don’t believe it. Go to the Jazz Bakery tonight to hear saxophonist Ted Nash’s marvelous group Odeon, and any doubts will quickly be dispelled.

What this Los Angeles native is demonstrating with Odeon is the fact that -- far from being on a down slope -- jazz is in a period of extraordinary opportunity. Untethered to the iconic presence of a Miles Davis, a Charlie Parker or a John Coltrane, musicians are freer than at almost any time in jazz history to follow their own muses.

For Nash, that has meant the creation of the ensemble Odeon, teaming himself (tenor sax, clarinet and bass clarinet), violinist Nathalie Bonin, tuba player-trombonist Clark Gayton, accordionist Bill Schimmel and drummer Tim Horner.

On Tuesday, they played a set in which every moment was sparked by musical invention.

The opening number, which began with a pumping tuba bass line, initially triggered an aural image of the Dirty Dozen Brass band on crystal meth. But that quickly changed when violin, clarinet and accordion entered with a series of bone-tingling harmonic dissonances.

Other pieces reached across a stunningly broad gamut of styles and sources. A version of “Amad” from Duke Ellington’s “Far East Suite” somehow managed to capture the essence of the Ellington orchestra’s unique textures. Thelonious Monk’s finger-busting “Four in One” similarly remained firmly in touch with the original while finding its own contemporary reality. And Nash’s adaptation of Debussy’s “Premiere Rapsodie” transformed that clarinetist’s delight into rhythm-rich, Gershwinesque impressionism.

The band, which lovers of jazz, classical music and pop can find pleasure in, is playing only three nights, with tonight its final performance. Fortunately, there’s still that one chance.

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Ted Nash & Odeon

Where: The Jazz Bakery, 3233 Helms Ave., Culver City

When: 8 and 9:30 tonight

Price: $25

Info: (310) 271-9039