Hackler playing at High Cotton

Meet Kevin Hackler.

Better yet, go see him at High Cotton restaurant. He's there a few times a week. You'll get an earful of finely executed jazz music in some of the best digs in town these days.

Hackler is an excellent trumpet player; and on Tuesdays and Fridays, he's a part of the James Slater Trio in the restaurant's lounge.

Slater is a seasoned guitarist and he and Hackler are driven by Jeremy Wolf on double bass. Hackler and Slater work the popular Sunday brunch, too.

Hackler is one of the more interesting players in the area. His sound is deliberate and forthright. Like all good artists, he continuously works on his craft, always prepared, ready for whatever comes along.

As the old Lowcountry saying goes, he's "steady in the boat." He's been sailing the high seas of jazz at High Cotton for at least five years now, most of them in bands under his own name.

In the fall of 2009, he left the jazz scene for a couple of months after enrolling in law school. He handed the gig over to Slater.

Gentleman that he is, it remained Slater's gig upon his return. He's still a force, though.

His clear, concise tone leads the band's way melodically, at least the times I've seen them recently. Slater and Wolf are lyrical players but Slater alternates between playing lead and rhythm while Wolf mostly lays the foundation.

The ensemble's feel is perfect for the newly renovated lounge, too.

Manager John St. John has overseen a smart makeover of the bar area. It's still cozy but it looks bigger by at least a third. There's a small, slightly elevated stage on the back wall, opposite where musicians used to stand at floor level, which was sometimes awkward given that spot's proximity to the entrance to the restaurant.

New, unobtrusive lighting mounted in the ceiling contributes greatly to the jazzy ambience and increases the potential for the space to become one of the nicer listening rooms on our scene.

Subtle, passive blues and reds match the trio's penchant for cool jazz that's laid back but swingin'.

Hackler has always played like that.

He plays all the forms but he's always in command of his instrument.

He's a charter member and soloist in the 20-piece Charleston Jazz Orchestra. He's led trios and quartets at a number of venues. He's even worked the horn section of Quiana Parler's R&B and party bands.

I probably heard Hackler before but I first noticed him in 2002 at Clara's, a King Street coffee bar and jazz nursery. It could have been his first gig as a leader. He was under the tutelage of Quentin Baxter, a merciless but fair teacher and bandstand role model.

I had walked up on the gig at the very end. Hackler was shaking in his boots, looking very glad the end was near. He had made it through, but Q and the late, great bassist Lee Burrows had him on pins and needles.

He played nicely, though. I caught them in a fine version of Thelonious Monk's "Rhythm-A-Ning" and he held his own. In fact, by the time I got there, the concert was over. The attendees had left. Nevertheless, Quentin struck up the band to accommodate me, an audience of one.

The lesson for Hackler was that you played for your audience, no matter how many people are there. It was a professional respect issue.

While you don't hear his name like you hear Quentin's and some of the other higher profile players, Hackler is well on his way to mastering the art of jazz. He's among the best under-30 musicians around, in my opinion.

A Virginia native who finished high school in North Myrtle Beach, he graduated from the College of Charleston the year after the aforementioned Clara's gig with a bachelor's degree in music performance.

While there, he studied under Quentin, theory instructor Robert Lewis, trumpeters Lyle van Wie and Charlton Singleton, composers David Maves and Trevor Weston and pianist Tommy Gill.

He has traveled the United States and Europe as a performer and bandleader.

In 2007, he recorded "Absalon," a CD he co-produced with Tim Holbrook on Sullivan's Island.

At that time, Hackler, who also mixed the record and wrote some of the songs, described his music as modern jazz/rock.

I wrote about it for the Post and Courier and Holbrook told me, "He's got a keen sense of performance and also a great ability to put players together and write great songs. I haven't seen that in this modern era of music. Very often Hackler is interested in the music, when others are more interested in making money, and it's very apparent in his material."

Believe me, it would be time well spent if you went to check him out at High Cotton. The lounge food is good, too.

By the way, High Cotton is the only jazz venue I know of that has more than one female singer in its weekly cycle: Ann Caldwell, who I believe was the first jazz act there years ago; Leah Suarez; Margaret Coleman, another High Cotton longtimer who also plays keyboard; and Allyson Taylor, all very fine, I might add.