TRYING ONE’S PLUCK

“Aren’t you guys ready yet?” Carlos Guitarlos asks demandingly at the mike, staring toward the side of the stage at two guitarists frantically tuning their instruments. Guitarlos has one hand wrapped around his guitar, while the other clutches a crumpled piece of paper with names scrawled all over it.

“No? Well I’m not going to stand up here and talk or tell jokes.” And immediately he and the band behind him launch into “I’ve Been Drinking Again,” a Guitarlos-penned classic from his days with Top Jimmy & the Rhythm Pigs.

At the end of the song, without missing a beat, he turns again to the musicians at the side of the stage.

“Aren’t you guys ready yet ?”

It’s Thursday night at Raji’s (6160 Hollywood Blvd., 469-4552), which means it’s Carlos Guitarlos Jam Night. From 10 until 2 it’s solid live music. No breaks, no tapes, no excuses.

Although the jam night bears his name, Guitarlos, 35, doesn’t dominate the stage. That would run counter to the point of the evening: to provide a musical forum for any player who comes to the club--regardless of style, background, in-crowd connections, or even talent. All anyone needs is an instrument.

“People can really do what they want,” Guitarlos says. “I’d let (a rank amateur) up there by themselves and just let them find out. If someone sees the way it goes he may go home and work on it and come back the next week and make it better. So far we haven’t gotten the out-and-out loons. I’m not worried about someone getting up there and making a fool of himself--you can only do that for one song.”

And at the jam night, one song passes very quickly. So do the musicians. At a recent jam night the audience heard in rapid succession “Sea Cruise,” “I Fall to Pieces” and “Midnight Rider,” each sung by a different singer backed by a slightly different band configuration. Out in the crowd a 10-year-old drummer nervously waited his turn while over in the corner Doors drummer John Densmore (a jam-night habitue) watched as a new group of musicians began plugging in.

The quick turnover of talent gives the scene a grab-bag diversity--some good, some not so good. But for the bargain-basement admission of only $3, who’s complaining?

Although the lineups vary, the overall sound remains consistently competent, thanks in large part to a core of regular players like bassist-guitarist Honey Davis, Rank and File guitarist Jeff Ross, saxophonist Tom Fabre and drummer Josh Kelly--all are members of Guitarlos’ house band and are available for sitting-in when needed.

“If we’re backing them up we can make someone that’s bad sound good and someone that’s good sound great,” boasts Guitarlos. “We work the quality and the non-quality in. We give everybody a chance really. There’s no, ‘Oh, you’re not cool so you can’t play.’ ”

The anything-goes, garage-party atmosphere of the evening has a particular appeal for working musicians, he adds, especially those who are locked into jobs where they can’t express themselves creatively.

And for Guitarlos, writer of more than 2,000 songs and veteran of scores of L.A. bands over the last 20 years, going with the creative flow is what it’s all about--although for him it’s sometimes more like a torrent. One minute he’s upstage playing tasteful obligatos behind a singer, and the next he’s rushing around the restaurant writing down musicians’ names and instruments, matching up musical strangers like a cruise-ship social director on speed.

” It’s a big rush for me, to play and still keep it all going,” he says. “I’ve got to talk to 25 people and get back up there by the third song. The jams are an extension of what I like to do--just go up there and do anything. The Rhythm Pigs was like that and the jams have just as much fun and energy.

“I don’t think I’m cool. I have a chance to play with people too. I’m in the same boat--except I’ve got the plug, and half the oars.”