JAZZ REVIEW : Julie Kelly, Quartet in Accord at Cafe Lido

Add voice to an instrumental combo and things can suddenly change. The brass immediately become hushed, accompaniment becomes more predictable and the drummer reaches for the brushes. A certain tentativeness permeates the proceedings.

But it doesn’t have to be that way, as Orange County-based keyboardist Peggy Duquesnel’s quartet and singer Julie Kelly proved during the first set Tuesday at Cafe Lido. This was a case where the vocalist heightened the band’s performance, rather than distracted from it. And we’re not just talking volume.

In a pair of opening numbers before being joined by the singer, Duquesnel showed herself to be an aggressive improviser, willing to take chances even when the results might not always be perfect. She would present a phrase, then twist variations from it before moving into some bluesy chording. A series of short, lyrical lines led to a long, whirling crescendo that Keith Jarrett might have admired. In accompaniment, she was spare, yet playful, dropping sounds in ways that challenged the lead.

The opener, “Invitation,” gave valve trombonist Mike Fahn (substituting for saxophonist Ann Patterson) a chance to strut his hard-hitting, yet lyrical stuff. Bassist Dave Enos, active in support, peppered a rhythmic solo with a series of double stops and quick descending lines. Drummer John Perett played a major role, punctuating the soloists’ work with cymbal shots and tom-tom punches. His rippling snare line behind the pianist’s streaming solo was a marvel of responsive interplay. A Duquesnel original, “Waltz for Diana,” gave Fahn a chance to show his sensitive side when providing airy atmospherics above the keyboardist’s well-turned theme.

Kelly came out and immediately upped the ante on “A Beautiful Friendship,” a tune pulled from her recent recording “Some Other Time” with pianist Tom Garvin. The singer spiced her warm tones with a slightly offbeat sense of rhythm that tended to emphasize the percussion. With a somewhat limited range, Kelly isn’t one to cut loose with stirring high-pitched displays of dynamics, and she doesn’t waste what she has on stylistic gimmicks. The singer showed herself capable of smart, well-paced scat and, at times, served as a vocal foil to Duquesnel and Fahn.

Kelly and the quartet brought depth to the ballad “All My Tomorrows” and a happy-go-lucky bounce to “Better Than Anything,” propelled by Perett’s ringing cymbal play. Fahn broke the delicate balance of a sultry Antonio Carlos Jobim tune with an overly loud improv before slipping back into a more appropriate range in tandem with the vocalist. Perett, adept at using a brush in one hand and a stick in the other, dueled with the scatting singer over the intro to Dizzy Gillespie’s “Night in Tunisia,” before the rest of the group got in on the fireworks.

* Peggy Duquesnel & Friends resume their Tuesday night engagement on Jan. 8 at at the Cafe Lido, 501 30th St., Newport Beach. Admission: free. Information: (714) 673-2968.