McSHANN AT VINE ST.

Pianist/singer Jay McShann, renowned as being the leader in whose early ‘40s big band Charlie Parker first achieved prominence, was relaxed and cheery at the Vine St. Bar & Grill Wednesday, opening his first local appearance in almost a decade. And while there were no surprises in the 78-year-old McShann’s first set, there was a plentitude of warmth and feeling, and often that will make up for what’s lacking musically.

Everything McShann and company--John Bolivar, reeds; Alan Jackson, bass; Eddie Green, drums--played was in his classic, steeped-in-the-blues style, with distinctive touches of rolling boogie-woogie flavor added in subtle doses, along with ideas that recalled that transitional period when the Swing Era was waning and be-bop was waxing.

In fact, the tunes--four blues, “All of Me” and “Georgia” among them--took on a sameness that made one think this performance was at a blues festival. But McShann’s perky piano work, where he’d segue from a raucous tremolo to a glancing boppish figure and then drop in old-timey funkiness, and his scratchy-voiced but endearing vocals--”Georgia” was quite moving--made this similarity more charming than alarming.

The band played with enthusiasm. Bolivar had several solid solos, particularly on flute and baritone sax, and Jackson, in a featured role, revealed his keen, fat-toned bowed artistry. The set closed with three vocals by Priscilla Bowman, who emphasized theatricality and silliness on “I Got It Bad”--she slipped wildly from voice to voice, sounding like a little girl for one phrase, a deep baritone man the next, and so on--and a hard-driving, no-nonsense swing on a blues, “24 Hours a Day.”