JAZZ REVIEW : Petrucciani at Catalina

Michel Petrucciani’s plane didn’t quite make it to LAX in time for his opening set at Catalina Bar & Grill this week--which was both good and bad.

Good because Mike Garson, the pianist with Free Flight, happened to be in the audience. Bad because any reduction in Petrucciani’s playing time was a loss.

Garson, who was pressed into service so quickly that his Caesar salad was still sitting untouched on his table when he dug into a few tunes with bassist Steve Logan and drummer Victor Jones, played with a spontaneous energy not always apparent in his more controlled work with Free Flight.

Petrucciani’s long flight delay had little effect Tuesday upon his music. The visual impact of this tiny, wizened man, perched on the edge of his piano stool, able to reach the pedals only with the help of an extension device, is one of the most astonishing images in contemporary jazz.

That his strikingly large hands can produce such unrelenting, Bud Powell-like, bop-drenched lines only underscores the miracle of his playing.

Petrucciani was ably supported by Logan and Jones. Virtually everything they touched was performed with the easy intuition of musicians who know each other’s every move.

The absence of the two other members of Petrucciani’s usual quintet was in no way a handicap. If anything, the trio format for this booking--which continues at Catalina’s through Saturday--provides a rare opportunity to experience the pure, white-hot improvising of a world-class jazz talent.