Karl Denson is a bit of a picaro for bestowing the name Tiny Universe upon his band, considering the expanse of their music. The acclaimed funk and jazz saxophonist, flutist and vocalist has led San Diego’s Greyboy Allstars, and performed with Lenny Kravitz, Steve Winwood, Slightly Stoopid and the Rolling Stones, among many others.

Yet even with his sterling studio credentials — countless individual recordings for himself and others — Denson’s live performances jump off the records into full-throttle virtuosic extravaganzas that any music lover can enjoy.

Small wonder he’s so beloved in the boundless jam-band multiverse. A recent stretch on the road for Denson encompassed four days at New York’s city’s storied Blue Note jazz club and a David Bowie tribute tour with singer Bernard Fowler. A few days before Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe plays a free show on May 7 here at ArtsPark at Young Circle in Hollywood, Denson is scheduled to join an Amy Winehouse tribute in New Orleans.

The most recent Tiny Universe album, 2019’s Gnomes and Badgers, positions the band’s soulful grooves and infectious funk rhythms as platforms for Denson’s soloing. Though firmly out front, Denson is not a spotlight hog: His individual work gets that shine through a band symbiosis. Its key elements are Chris Littlefield’s trumpet and David Veith’s wah-wah pedal-distorted keyboards, working amid an ad hoc army of incredibly talented other players.

Album highlights include the upbeat and danceable “Something Sweet,” the funky and soulful “Millvale, PA,” and the bluesy and reflective “I’m Your Biggest Fan.” Denson and Tiny Universe are also celebrating their 25th anniversary so fans can expect the band to pull from their five-album catalogue and more importantly, from a quarter century of live performances that are both exploratory and unerring.

Opening is local rabble rouser, producer and bluesman Eric Garcia, better known as the irascible one-man-band Uncle Scotchy. Dipping into the lore of blues for thematic raconteuring on hardship, pain, and loss, Garcia shines playing — in tandem — guitar, kick drum, snare, crash, bell and harmonica.

Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe and Uncle Scotchy perform 7pm Sunday, May 7 at the Hollywood ArtsPark Experience free concert series. karldenson.com ~ Abel Folgar