Over the past 30+ years I’ve seen tenor saxist Pete Christlieb as a sideman for artists ranging from Tom Waits to Benny Goodman to Johnny Mandel and beyond. At the upscale Bel Air club Vibratos, Christlieb was in the forefront and in his element as he delivered an hour and change worth of straightahead jazz. Supported by the adroit team of Otmar Ruiz/p, Pat Senatore/b and Dick Weller/dr, Christlieb gave the well-heeled crowd a sound from his horn and an authoritative style that is the envy of 95% of the sax players over on the Least Coast. He could take a Depression era ditty like “Limehouse Blues” and turn it into a sleek and slinky treat. Coaxed by Ruiz’s gracious chords, Christlieb’s earthy tenor filled the spacious room on a glorious take of “Isfahan.” Weller’s musical drumming drove the band like a stage coach rider on Red River while Christlieb closed the set with a fiery and ferocious take of the uptempo “Minority.” Studio studs like Christlieb are taken for granted in La La land, which is the pity, as this guy has given the City of Angels years of inspiring music like this evening’s on a starry advent season.