Prince of Vibes Awes His Subjects in Manner CDs Can’t : Concert: Bobby Hutcherson, in peak form at 50, delivers buoyant, spirited performance at the Jazz Note in Pacific Beach.

Even with the advent of CDs, the quality of the best jazz performances doesn’t come across on recordings. Part of what’s lost is sound: the vibrant, three-dimensional ambience of the best clubs doesn’t register on even the finest of recording equipment. Perhaps more important, though, are the lost visual cues--facial expressions, body language, unspoken communication among band members, the things that draw an audience into the music.

Bobby Hutcherson, the reigning innovator on vibes, is a master of such subtleties. He opened four nights at the Jazz Note in Pacific Beach on Thursday.

Hutcherson’s new album, “Mirage,” released last week, is competent enough. He teams with veteran pianist Tommy Flanagan for some warm, melodic moments on several standards and two original tunes. But the recording can’t touch Hutcherson live.

In person, Hutcherson’s mallets slash through the air above his instrument like action painter Jackson Pollock’s hands dripping paint above a canvas.

Hutcherson’s first set on opening night was largely a shakedown cruise for the band, which included longtime Hutcherson collaborator James Leary on bass, sometime Hutcherson collaborator Dwight Dickenson on piano, plus Mike Hyman (on loan from Flanagan) on drums.

Lacking rehearsal time, Hutcherson didn’t attempt material from his new album, preferring to stick mostly with compositions by other jazz greats.

Set one included McCoy Tyner’s “The Seeker” and Thelonious Monk’s “Well, You Needn’t,” plus the standard “Love Letters” and “Little B’s Poem.”

With the tuneup under their belts, and aided by the arrival of a sort of Hutcherson Mafia--half a dozen enthusiastic male fans who carried on a rowdy dialogue with the vibraphonist--the band soared during the second set.

Hutcherson opened with a pair of romantic standards: “All of You” and “All The Things You Are.” As Leary and Hyman conjured rhythmic currents that swelled and subsided over and over, Hutcherson quickly dispensed with signature melodies and moved into the territory of fertile improvisation.

At 50, Hutcherson has attained full mastery of his instrument. He possesses blinding speed, mature, sensitive use of dynamics, an ear for gentle lyricism and the confidence to repeat notes and phrases over and over with subtle variations that wring out the maximum emotional impact. One moment, his mallets blur over the keyboard as he spins silky strands of notes, each as defined as a glistening pearl. The next, he brings such an emotional section to a head, raining blows down on a single key, as if hammering giant nails.

By mid-set the band was lubed, Hutcherson was perspiring and he reached down deep for monster performances on three closing tunes. Fueled by boisterous feedback, he ripped through “Bolivia” at breakneck speed before dropping down two notches for a soulful rendition of “All Blues,” a quiet number well-suited to the soft, subtle, vibrato sound of the vibraphone.

Hutcherson’s bandmates deserve credit for turning obligatory solos into something special. Dickenson sounds like a more controlled version of McCoy Tyner, reeling off staccato strings of notes with amazing precision. Leary’s solos also were unusually worthwhile, especially the bowed, oddly Bartokian turn he took on “All Blues.”

“Blue Bossa” capped the evening with some final, spirited interplay between Hutcherson and the Mafia. When he paused during a particularly intense solo and stared out at the audience, a Mafia member shouted out, “Well?,” wondering what might come next.

“Well . . .,” Hutcherson responded with a grin. “Don’t bug me now!” A few moments later, as Hyman delivered a furious solo, Hutcherson danced around with his back to the audience, waving his mallets above his head, then he went back to his vibes and hammered one key repeatedly to drive Hyman to the finish line.

The music should be equally intense and possibly more varied tonight and Sunday. Hutcherson planned to rehearse the band on some newer material, which could turn up in his shows tonight (at 9 and 11) and Sunday (at 8:30 and 10:30).

If you want to find out what you’ve been missing on those CDs, you owe it to yourself to spend a night as an honorary member of the Hutcherson Mafia.