JAZZ REVIEWS : Trio Serves Up Tasty Fare at Catalina Grill

The ideal jazz presentation, like the perfect meal, is both pleasurable and nutritious. So you could say that the audience at Catalina Bar & Grill was served a gourmet musical dinner Wednesday, when the trio of pianist James Williams, guitarist Kevin Eubanks and bassist John Clayton opened a five-night run.

Playing their first Los Angeles engagement--the artists worked at Bradley’s in Manhattan a year ago--Williams, Eubanks and Clayton revealed that they are not only extraordinary performers who deliver the unexpected, but also keen listeners who are constantly aware of, and empathetic to, the aural comings and goings of their bandmates.

During the dynamic, technically flawless group’s first set, such pop and jazz classics as “Speak Low,” “There Is No Greater Love” and “Four on Six” were given splendid airings, accentuating mellifluousness and rhythmic drive.

Williams, who has a fluid, bluesy approach, varied between an ardent touch and a delicate one, issuing notes that sparkled. Eubanks, whose solo on “Four on Six” was stunning in its complexity and sense of swing, went from chords as soft as clouds to ringing, shining notes, one held out so long it disappeared into silence.

Clayton, his tone round and buttery, twice soloed with the bow. Here his notes sometimes sounded like dogs growling, sometimes like bees buzzing, and the bassist made art of it all.