JAZZ REVIEW : Norris and McKenna’s Piano Yin and Yang

It would be difficult to find two jazz pianists who have less in common than Walter Norris and Dave McKenna. As far apart musically as geographically (McKenna is based in Boston; Norris has lived in Berlin since 1977), they were presented Sunday in a first-ever joint appearance, promoted by fellow pianist Daniel May, at a ballroom in Loew’s Santa Monica Hotel.

Norris is an adventurer who brings classical influences to bear even on such jazz and pop standards as Charlie Parker’s “Bird” and Leroy Anderson’s “Belle of the Ball.” Moving in and out of tempo and switching from music-box gentility to experimental, jagged atonality, he has the imagination, and the technical resources, to take “My Foolish Heart” or “Lush Life” through uncharted melodic and harmonic byways.

In a word, Norris was stunning. Though his two original pieces seemed a little too abstract for the audience, he left no doubt that his is one of the most vividly innovative minds in the contemporary piano field.

When McKenna’s set followed, he offered the bright, masculine yang to Norris’ deep, dark yin. In his long, accessible series of standard tunes, he retained the swinging jazz essence. His left hand is distinctly his own: the moving fingers walked, or strode, or strummed. He is a master of a form that stems directly from traditional roots.

Because he did not speak, some of the ingenuity of his song-linking was no doubt lost on many. “Just Friends” led to “Can’t We Be Friends,” followed by “Beautiful Friendship,” after which came a Cole Porter medley--but who knew?

Eventually McKenna began to pull; he is a brilliant performer in what seems, after a half hour, to be more a manner than a style. For a finale, Norris and McKenna played a few numbers at two pianos, but the oil of Norris and the water of McKenna rarely mixed. Norris had to tone down his complexities; not until they played a blues was there a true sense of compatibility. But this was a rare and challenging evening for performers and listeners alike.