Musicians like altoist Jim Snidero for his sincerity. "Everything he plays sounds like he's going to play play it for the last time," says Jerry Rusch, the veteran L.A. based trumpeter.

Audiences at Snidero's recent live appearances have acknowledged a similar honesty of expression. Both during the altoist's stand in early March at the Club Brasserie on Tinseltown's Sunset Strip and his weekender in January at Smalls in Manhattan Snidero was smoking. The 29-year-old master musician's vibrant sound and vigorous harmonic and melodic approach made evergreens like "Along Came Betty" and "What's New" and solid originals such as "Passage" and "Blue Minor" brim with life.

After about two decades in the jazz business, Snidero, originally from Camp Springs, Md., says he's finally starting to discover his musical identity. "I've taken my influences-among them, in no particular order, bird, [Sonny] Stitt, Cannonball [Adderley], KD[Kenny Dorham], Joe Hen [Derson],Freddie [hubbard], Trane--and tried to expand upon them," he says. "I'm trying to blur the lines of traditional harmony, melody and rhythm, and still keep it meaningful."

The altoist has two recent projects of particular interest:Standards+Plus (Double Time), a first-rate CD, and the book JazzConception, a collection of play-along etudes published by Advance Music. Both feature the same trio of pianist Mike LeDonne, bassist Dennis Irwin and drummer Kenny Washington.

Standards+Plus is Snidero's first for Double Time. (He has several others out, most recently San Juan on Red Records.) As the title suggests, the recording is a bouquet of standards with a couple of blues--Sonny Red's "Bluesville" and Cedar Walton's "Twilight Waltz"--tossed in for good measure.

To keep things fresh, Snidero gave these familiar tunes some zesty arrangements. Examples: "You And The Night And The Music" is done as a waltz over a one-chord vamp, à la Trane's "My Favorite Things"; "Long Ago and Far Away" has moments of band-unison melody then solid swing for the jazz choruses; "What's New" is a medium-tempo bossa.

"This album is my best recorded performance," says Snidero, a University of North Texas grad who has lived in New York since 1981. "It's relaxed. That band, as a rhythmic unit, is as good as it gets."

Jazz Conception is an 11-volume series of etudes for such instruments as flute, clarinet, guitar, tenor sax, alto sax, trumpet, trombone and sax section, plus a study/teaching guide that analyzes the material. the etudes--essentially solos based on an accompanying CD by noted jazzmen, among the tenorman Walt Weiskopf, trombonist Conrad Herwig, flutist Frank Wess, trumpeter ace Joe Magnarelli and Snidero. "The books, a bridge between standard playalongs and transcriptions of solos by the masters, are essentially an introduction to jazz style, and how to put together a solo in a concise way," notes Snidero.

As a leader, Snidero plays regularly around New York and travels more than occasionally to Europe. This Summer finds him hitting Japan and Australia. As a sideman, he's been featured with the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra, The Mingus Big Band and Frank Sinatra recently paid a visit to Arizona State University, where he got to play with an orchestra. "Ninety-three Strings! That was unbelievable, a high point," he exclaims. He's also on the faculty at Mannes/New School in New York.

Still, things could always improve, and Snidero would like to spend more time working under his own name. "I've been around New York for 17 years. I just want to get to the next level.

--Zan Stewart

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