Jazz Reviews : Coleman’s Piano Skills Abundant at Holiday Inn

Cecilia Coleman, the pianist whose trio played the Sunday brunch atop the Hollywood Holiday Inn, is a skilled artist who, at 27, is just beginning to be talked about in local jazz circles. The talk is uniformly laudatory.

Coleman, the product of a time when jazz was already both a chordal and modal discipline, has absorbed the best of both worlds. During one set she moved seamlessly for an adventurous original work, “Isolation,” to a strongly swinging “It Could Happen to You,” followed by a gentle application of appropriate filigrees to the poignant “Old Folks.”

Her left-hand punctuations are a potent force in the rhythm section. During a bass chorus by Dave Carpenter and even in parts of a Kendall Kay drum interlude, what she had to offer by way of backing and filling was more interesting than the solos themselves. Not that her colleagues were less than competent; Carpenter was particularly effective in keeping the group on an even keel.

During the final set Al Aarons brought his fluegelhorn to the bandstand. Although this is a revolving rooftop restaurant, he did not attempt any circular breathing. He played some loose blues on “Au Privave” and swung convincingly on “Stella by Starlight.”

The Southland moves in mysterious ways its talent to reveal. Cecilia Coleman, a lifetime resident, made an impression Sunday that should lead to belated prominence in the town’s proliferating jazz rooms.