The Poet of Jazz Piano Opens Tonight at Vine St. : Jazz: Tommy Flanagan stays out of the limelight. But he was accompanist and musical director for Ella Fitzgerald.

If the name of Tommy Flanagan is less celebrated than that of, say, Harry Connick Jr., the reasons have nothing to do with comparative talent. Flanagan, the Detroit-born pianist whose trio opens tonight at Hollywood’s Vine Street Bar & Grill, may be the most universally respected artist in his field, but two factors have held him back: his extraordinary diffidence (it is almost impossible to draw a self-laudatory word out of him), and the fact that he spent some of the central years of his career touring as accompanist and musical director for Ella Fitzgerald (off and on from 1956 until 1978) and Tony Bennett (1966).

Flanagan, who recently won both the readers’ and the critics’ polls in Jazz Times magazine, has been called the poet of jazz piano. He has the rare knack of suggesting the assertive essence of be-bop (he was inspired by his masters, mainly Charlie Parker and Bud Powell) while retaining a gentle touch and an authoritative control of the idiom. Not without reason was his “Thelonica” voted one of the 10 best albums of the 1980s in the recent Village Voice critics’ poll.

Calling from Portland, Ore., prior to leaving on a jazz cruise, Flanagan reflected on the career that began virtually in mid-life when he left Fitzgerald for the final time. “I have a little more freedom today, and at least I can stay home in New York now and then, playing clubs like Sweet Basil or the Village Vanguard.

“I still spend a lot of time on the road, but also on the ocean--I’ve played the Norway, the Seaward, the Royal Viking Star, among others, and that’s a pleasant way to travel.”

There have been occasional reunions with Fitzgerald, the last at a concert in her honor, “Hearts for Ella,” at New York’s Avery Fisher Hall last February, when many of her alumni gathered. “I was looking for her at the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague this summer, but that turned out to be the night she got sick and had to cancel the rest of her tour.”

Although some of his best work on records can be heard in his CDs with Fitzgerald (“Ella A Nice,” in 1971, and “Ella/Flanagan Live at Montreux 1977,” both on Pablo), Flanagan has a growing backlog of his own trio and quartet albums. “I have a new one called ‘Beyond the Blue Horizon,’ with (guitarist) Kenny Burrell. I’m also working on one with Bobby Hutcherson on vibraphone.”

He has been nominated four times for a Grammy award. This year he may finally stand a chance of winning, with “Jazz Poet,” on Timeless records. “I don’t know whether the voters will consider it, but it is a good album.” By Flanagan standards that is extravagant praise.

Just past 60, he has respect for some of the younger figures on the scene. “I admire the Marsalis brothers, of course--I played with Branford on a couple of cuts in the Sonny Rollins album ‘Falling in Love With Jazz’ last year.”

Among the pianists, he cites Mulgrew Miller and Geoff Keezer, both heard during the last few years with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. “Keezer was only about 19 when I heard him not long ago, and he showed lots of promise.”

Flanagan’s long years of association with giants of the bop and post-bop eras give him a rare perspective in judging the product of a later generation. He has played with the brothers Thad and Hank and Elvin Jones, with Milt Jackson, Miles Davis, Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Parker and Harry (Sweets) Edison. He has earned the admiration of all of them, but it is his longtime employer, the First Lady, who has the most eloquent tribute:

“Tommy Flanagan,” said Ella Fitzgerald from her home in Beverly Hills, “is a genius. Most of my musical education comes from the wonderful people who have worked with me, and Tommy taught me so much. He always knew instinctively what I was going to do; he gave me all the support I could hope for. If I’m feeling well, you know I’m going to drop in at Vine Street and listen to him again.”