Anton Schwartz at Rocco.

The list of Phi Beta Kappa tenor saxists with bachelor's degrees in math and philosophy from Harvard, a master's in artificial intelligence from Stanford, and music studies with the likes of the great Warne Marsh is probably rather short. Nearly as short is the list of younger saxists who have developed such an original sound: smooth and opaque, delivered with a sort of hesitational swing. Under the circumstances, it's surprising that the compositions and presentation of the New Yorker-turned-Bay Area resident, as displayed on last year's When Music Calls (AntonJazz), are so unpretentious and even traditional, with fittingly relaxed accompaniment from Paul Nagel (piano), John Shifflett (bass) and Jason Lewis (drums). If you haven't yet checked out Rocco, a modern yet intimate room with a consistently discriminating booking policy, here's an appropriate combination of environment and talent. Schwartz also plays today at LACMA from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and at Borders Books in Santa Monica, Saturday at 1 p.m. (Greg Burk)