O.C. JAZZ REVIEW : Liz Story Exudes Harmonic Appeal

Compare pianist Liz Story’s solo work to Keith Jarrett’s--both share jazz and classical backgrounds--and she fares pretty well. Story’s appearance Saturday at the Coach House had all the expressive and harmonic appeal of Jarrett’s solo concerts, without his reliance on endless left-hand droning or lazy blues riffs.

Story’s work is closer to the Etudes of Franz Liszt than to the unaccompanied work of Jarrett or keyboardists such as Bud Powell. Though not as dense as Liszt’s studies, Story’s original material, most pulled from her new Windham Hill release, “Dance of the Love Ponies,” proceeded at more leisurely, less stringently enforced tempos, building around simple themes that served as touchstones for her improvisational excursions.

Moods ranged from a stately “Church of Trees” to the bouncy “Frog Park,” a carefree romp that the keyboardist tempered with dark rumbling from the lower register.

The waltz-paced “Inside Out” moved with the grace of a minuet, yet contained the kind of modern, sometimes dissonant chording that put an uneasy feeling to the delicate composition. The keyboardist described “Broken Arrow Drive” as “a shuffle with a limp.” The beat brought a rare playfulness as she cut and stretched her improvisational lines.

Though the program suffered from a somber sameness, Story’s short pieces were constructed with care and craft. It’s a shame her introspective music is so often dismissed because of its New Age affiliations. Like the Liszt Etudes , it’s often transcendent.

The show’s opener, solo electric bassist Michael Manring, utilized the two-handed “tap” technique (pioneered by guitarist Stanley Jordan) to accompany himself on jazz, pop and original tunes. He utilized a trio of instruments, as well as both mechanical and technical gimmicks, to get a sound worthy of two or more musicians.

Manring had tuning difficulties with a fretless, four-string instrument on his first number, “Geometry,” then worked through a fleet though rhythmically sloppy version of Charlie Parker’s “Now’s the Time” on a headless Steinberger bass.

But these two numbers were all it took to get the kinks out. From there the bassist soared, building solid, resonant foundations for the melodic lines he stated in the upper register. He squeezed a variety of tonal colors from the fretless “Hyperbass” during Chick Corea’s “500 Miles High” and a snappy rendition of Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze.” On his own “Watson & Crick,” he shouldered two instruments, plucking runs from one while building chordal support from the other.

Though Manring may have a way to go as a composer, his technical skills are a marvel that must be seen as well as heard. He is definitely someone to watch.