JAZZ REVIEW : What a Difference Their Play Makes : Eliane Elias’ Sensitivity and Bobby Lyle’s Boldness Underscore Array of Influences in Pianists’ Styles

The divergence of styles among the latest generation of jazz keyboardists was on display Sunday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. The pairing of Eliane Elias’ acoustic trio and Bobby Lyle’s mostly-electric quintet pointed out the vast array of influences and backgrounds that today’s pianists can pull from when forming their own outfits.

Elias grew up with a heavy exposure to jazz and classical music while surrounded by dance rhythms of her native Brazil. Her assimilation into the New York music scene happened virtually overnight. Lyle was born in Memphis, where he heard Erroll Garner and Art Tatum, then got his big break playing groove tunes with the Young-Holt Unlimited band. In addition to his solo career, he’s worked behind such pop stars as Anita Baker and Bette Midler.

As expected, Elias’ sensitive ways came more from the Bill Evans or Keith Jarrett schools, while Lyle worked from more direct rhythmic territory of the sort pioneered by Ahmad Jamal and Herbie Hancock. Elias’ trio developed gradual, often-subtle dynamic changes, while Lyle’s crew moved from intimate whispers to assertive shouts in the space of a few bars. Yet both combos brought solid musicianship and supportive interplay to the stage while working their own brand of material.

Elias opened with her own “Campari and Soda,” a tune that typifies her blend of jazz phrasing with light-on-its-feet, samba-paced rhythms. Her solo moved easily through the changing tempos before she galloped into a chord-rich climax that grew from long swirling lines. Numbers pulled from her album of Antonio Carlos Jobim compositions (“Desafinado,” “Waters of March/Agua de Beber”) were given the same dancing treatments while she narrated a visually suggestive story line with her right hand.

But her best numbers, those pulled from a yet-to-be-released recording, moved away from the lightness of her earlier compositions with edgy dissonance, the occasional helter-skelter run and a left hand with dark intent. “Back in Time” threw passages from the keyboard tradition into a tight, modern attack that took well to Elias’ blues and stride references. An unidentified number loped across drummer Peter Erskine’s reserved rock handle that the pianist emphasized with a single, repeated bass note.

Erskine, though never understated, put a deft touch to his toms and cymbals to keep within the sonic parameters of the acoustic trio while supplying a seemingly endless string of ideas and accents. Bassist Marc Johnson, often lost in the mix, developed his up-octave solos on lyrical lines that then cascaded into the lower register. What could be heard of his walk was inventive and assured.

Lyle’s rhythm section--guitarist Paul Jackson, bassist Larry Kimpel and drummer Michael Baker--brought verve as well as volume to their leader’s busy block-chord sound. While Erskine worked quiet ideas on his kit, Baker stamped out backbeat and lit up his snare, sometimes making the keyboardist compete in volume. With Lyle’s left hand taking care of most of the rhythm duties, Jackson added depth to the proceedings by embellishing the soloists’ lines and working some of Wes Montgomery’s tonal smarts into his own improvisations. Kimpel contrasted his clean, flowing electric support with jagged, crackling solos that moved quickly to the high ground.

The pianist paid tribute to Ellington with a driving “Caravan,” a tune whose Middle Eastern feel takes readily to a steamy electric bass riff and hot tenor tones. Saxophonist Everett Harp, a new member of the band whose name didn’t make the program, showed ambitious, mid-range ways that were relentless in the sheer amount of sound he produced.

Occasionally standing to get at an electric keyboard sitting on top of the acoustic, Lyle showed amazing facility and the ability to blend blues, funk and ragtime in a single tune. His original honoring Sarah Vaughn, “Sassy,” was a smart major-key statement, while the sultry funk line of “Tropical” had him piping hot on the synthesizer. Though Lyle’s keyboard onslaughts and technical displays were sometimes too dense and disjointed, a sharp contrast to Elias’ seamless ways, the pianist shows promise in his melding of jazz musicianship and tradition with pop sensibilities.