JAZZ REVIEW : DRUMMING UP INTEREST IN SMITH TRIO

It is a safe bet that in any trio nominally led by a drummer, the de facto leader will be the pianist.

Such is the case in a group billed as Jimmie Smith’s State of the Art Trio, occupying the bandstand Tuesdays through Thursdays this month at the Alleycat Bistro in Culver City.

This is not to imply that Smith’s role is unimportant; on the contrary, now as always, he displays at the drums a confident flair and a lack of flamboyance that sustain interest whether he’s soloing or simply furnishing support for Vicki von Eps.

Newly returned from Boston, the Southland-born Von Eps dominates every tune as pianist, often also as vocalist. If the world were divided into two classes, the creatives and the derivatives, Von Eps would have to be classified in the latter group; however, since her sources seem to be the right ones on both levels, the results are never less than agreeable.

Her keyboard work mixes traces of bop and blues with touches of early Les McCann funk. There was a hint of gospel when she disinterred a 50-year-old Hammerstein & Romberg song, “When I Grow Too Old to Dream.” As a singer, she displays a natural jazz feeling in her phrasing and in the hip vibrato that fans out at the end of certain tones. Her medley of Billie Holiday songs was neatly coordinated, her “Body and Soul” fittingly soulful.

Completing the trio Tuesday was bassist Al McKibbon, filling in for the indisposed Eugene Wright. On very short notice he took over and performed like the seasoned pro he is.