Delights, but few surprises

Bill Charlap approaches the piano the way a master chef approaches a recipe. Every element is carefully considered, measured and mixed with infinite concern for detail. There are no surplus ingredients, no rough edges, no unforeseen results. And the final product, in both cases, is a model of expertise, craftsmanship and calculation.

That yields impressive consistency but little in the way of surprise or spontaneity. That’s OK in the kitchen, not in jazz.

Charlap’s performance Wednesday at Catalina Bar & Grill night had a great number of appealing aspects. There was, first, his excellent choice of repertoire, which included a pair of rarely heard jazz originals (“Satellite” by Gigi Gryce and “Bon Ami” by Jim Hall), a few attractive standards (“Stardust,” “Out of This World,” “The Best Thing for You” and “Last Night When We Were Young”) and a pair of less familiar numbers (Cole Porter’s “Dream Dancing” and Leonard Bernstein’s “Glitter and Be Gay”).

Charlap’s arrangements of each tune, always more than simple themes and variations, engaged the full trio (with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington) in the mix, often to the extent of virtually recomposing the material. Finally, Charlap’s own playing was virtuosic and free-flowing, balancing an impressive sense of tone with whippet-fast fingering, a subtle ear for richly clustered harmonies and a comfortable familiarity with the rhythmic byways of bebop.

There were moments in the set in which the quality of the music exceeded the sum of the individual elements: the lyrical renderings of “Stardust” and “Last Night When We Were Young”; the brisk swing of “Out of This World”; a particularly attractive piano interlude in “Bon Ami.”

But too often there was a sense of recipe-driven predictability in the way everything came together.

Ornette Coleman, when asked about the spontaneity of his music, once replied, “How can I know what I’m going to play before I play it?”

Unlike Coleman, however, Charlap never seemed to allow room for any unanticipated choices in what he was going to play.

*

Bill Charlap Trio

Where: Catalina Bar & Grill, 6725 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood

When: 8:30 and 10:30 tonight-Saturday; 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Sunday. With dinner or two-drink minimum purchase.

Price: $15 to $30

Contact: (323) 466-2210