Monk, Miles and Mingus Are Staff of Life at New Jazz Bakery

When pianists Bill Mays and Mike Wofford delivered their two-piano recital on a recent Thursday night at the Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles, the audience heard two remarkable artists offering spontaneous, tuneful interpretations of Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker and others.

What the 80 or so jazz buffs in attendance didn’t hear was loud chatter from inconsiderate patrons, clinking of glasses, comings and goings of waiters and waitresses and the cash register’s annoying ring.

Producers Jim Britt and Ruth Price have taken steps to ensure that these detriments and distractions-- de rigueur at most jazz clubs--weren’t part of their newly formed performance space: a small, box-shaped white-walled room with a 40-foot ceiling, next to the Helms Bakery building on Venice Boulevard.

“I wanted to present artists in an atmosphere that they deserve to be heard in,” said Price, a jazz singer who has worked with Charles Mingus and Shelly Manne. In the past couple of years, she has started a new career booking jazz acts.

At the Jazz Bakery, where music is usually offered two nights a week, refreshments--dessert, coffee, soft drinks--are served before the performance, not during. Guests then enjoy an intimate musical presentation facing the stage in rows of white plastic patio chairs.

When Mays, a former Angeleno who resettled in Manhattan, and Wofford, who lives in San Diego, played that Thursday, their set was a trove of melodic gems.

At first, Mays sat at a black Yamaha baby grand and Wofford at a similarly sized rosewood Steinway, seats they later traded. Beginning with “Monk’s Dream,” the keyboardists established the approaches, musical and physical, that would mark their renditions.

Mays, in black jacket, slacks and shirt patterned in roses, bent forward at times so that his head almost touched the keys, at times leaning back, grimacing. His playing likewise had a flamboyant air.

In contrast, Wofford, in a tan cotton suit, kept a straight back most of the time, and played in a less flashy, but no less musical, manner. Sometimes he seemed to be staring through the open top of his piano toward his cohort, as if anticipating his next move. It was striking how often he, and Mays, guessed right. On “Too Marvelous for Words,” Wofford soloed, playing crisp lines, while Mays played chords. After a time, Wofford segued to a similar chordal attack, and suddenly the two were simultaneously playing a descending passage almost exactly alike.

But even more impressive was the way these two individualists made the music flow. Without a drummer or a bass player, they not only swung hard but allowed room for each other’s expression.

A number with two Parker blues--”Relaxin’ at Camarillo” and “Cheryl”--superimposed upon each other was a high point. One would solo while the other played accompaniment--sometimes chords, sometimes luscious counter-melodies--then they’d switch.

Here Wofford improvised first, evincing a gutsy bluesiness and a dark touch, a la Bud Powell. Then Mays, who might be described as a stylistic composite of Oscar Peterson and Tommy Flanagan, worked out, at one point banging the keys, then repeating a single note, rocking back and forth as he extemporized.

This tune, like the rest, was greeted with resounding applause. Afterward, audience members were as appreciative with their words.

“That was sensational,” said the ubiquitous radio announcer Chuck Niles as the men left the bandstand.

“Words haven’t been invented to describe what was going on on that riser,” said Michael C. Ford, a poet who will make an appearance at the venue later this month.

“That’s about as good as it gets,” said Ralph Gold, a physician and amateur bassist dubbed “the Jazz Doctor” because so many musicians are his patients.

The duo, who had never played together prior to this engagement, which included the previous night, also were delighted with the performance.

“There seems to be a naturalness to the way we play together,” said Wofford, whose latest release is “Gerald’s People” on Discovery Records. Wofford also appears with his quintet at 8 p.m. Oct. 18 at Santa Monica College.

“I liked it,” said Mays with a laugh. “Sometimes we didn’t know where the endings were going to be, but that was all right. And the acoustics of the room are great,” added Mays, who records for the Tel Arc label.

It was decidedly the type of evening that Price and Britt had in mind when ideas for the Jazz Bakery were fermenting.

Serendipity brought the two together. Earlier this year, Britt, who worked as a singer from the late ‘50s to the early ‘70s, wanted to photograph Price. When she came to his studio and saw his piano, they started talking about putting together a performance space for jazz musicians. Price had been booking for a Brentwood restaurant but was having problems with the owner.

“He came up to me one night and asked me to tell the musicians to keep it down, people were trying to talk,” said Price. “That was the last straw.”

Though Price, who is the room’s musical director, says she doesn’t like to book artists, she wanted to provide a place where local performers and traveling acts could appear. “There are so many wonderful players that live here but don’t work here,” she said.

When Britt offered the space, Price bought a rug to cover the bare concrete floor. “Then he knew I was serious,” she said with a laugh. She soon brought in the 80 chairs while Britt built a bandstand and added lighting and a sound system.

Their first presentations, after a couple of private parties in July, were pianist Walter Norris and trumpeter Brian Lynch, both in August. The turnout was good for Norris but sparse for Lynch. Mays and Wofford did capacity shows both nights.

So far, so good, said Britt. “We’re not making money yet but we don’t have an incredible risk. It’s happening and it can grow. It has a lot of potential.”

Upcoming artists include guitarist Gene Bertoncini and bassist John Clayton today; pianist Lou Levy and saxophonist Pete Christlieb Friday; French hornist Richard Todd, pianist Frank Collett and bassist Andy Simpkins Saturday; saxophonist Herman Riley and pianist Art Hillery next Sunday; Ruth Price, with Wofford and bassist Monty Budwig Oct. 19; saxophonist Bob Sheppard’s quartet Oct. 20; poet Ford Oct. 25; and pianist Jimmy Rowles, in a rare appearance Oct. 26.