JAZZ REVIEW : Herb Ellis and Andy Simpkins Swing Into Action at Maxwell’s

There was no drummer on the bandstand Friday night at Maxwell’s by the Sea, but you might have thought there was. Guitarist Herb Ellis and his sole partner, bassist Andy Simpkins, made their selections pulsate with that rhythmic flow that jazz musicians and their followers call “swing.”

Both the 70-year-old mainstream guitar ace and the keen, inventive bassist are gifted with great “time,” that oft-misunderstood musical term that basically means having such a secure feeling for rhythm, and knowledge of which beat goes where, that they keep a number on a sure and steady rhythmic course from beginning to end, no matter the tempo.

Everything that Ellis and Simpkins played swung, be it a slow and soulful take of Hoagy Carmichael’s “Georgia on My Mind,” a bossa nova-ish version of “America the Beautiful” or a fast, sizzling look at an intricate Charlie Parker blues, “Billie’s Bounce.” What made this intuitive compatibility all the more remarkable was the fact that, according to Simpkins, not only did the pair not rehearse, they also hadn’t performed together in several years.

Another aspect that permeated the twosome’s eight-song opening set was the decided blues essence that Texas native Ellis, and to some degree Simpkins, instilled in the selections.

The first number, “John Brown’s Body,” definitely came off sounding like a blues, although the early American folk song certainly isn’t one, and “Georgia,” with its slow gait, offered ample opportunity for Ellis to drop in one blues-drenched phrase after another.

Carmichael’s classic exemplified the mellifluous interplay that was one more essential element to this first-rate performance. Ellis, his honey-colored sound gleaming and resonant, would play a fragment of the tune’s timeless melody, usually embellishing that melody with a rocketing chord, or a bluesy swagger, while Simpkins played accompanying chordal tones behind him.

After each melodic statement, the guitarist often paused, during which time the bassist filled in the space with a complementary phrase. Later, when Ellis improvised, Simpkins switched to time-keeping duties and delivered his lines in a firm, reliable pulse.

Ellis’ solos were wonders to hear, and were examples of what makes his personal brand of the Swing Era-meets-be-bop style of improvisation so attractive. The guitarist created seamless forays built upon one short idea that he deftly tied to another similar thought, and then another, in the process weaving a sumptuous fabric that seemed stitched together with golden sonic threads.

On “Georgia,” Ellis segued from a Parker-like statement to a quote from Jerome Kern’s “Ol’ Man River” to a tumble-down scale passage, these ideas all evenly spaced. The guitarist played “Sweet Georgia Brown” at a fast clip, and here delivered phrases that had such a country-ish twang they could have been played by Chet Atkins, along with sudden 20-note gushes and ideas that were based upon the continued repetition of a single note.

And when he played the blues, he made the selections come alive with foot-tapping feeling.

Simpkins deserved equal credit for the success of the performance, which was the first of a two-night stand. He buoyed each Ellis solo outing with carefully chosen notes, and when he improvised, he revealed himself to be almost as fluid as his partner. Sounding more like a be-bop-based hornman than a bassist, Simpkins concocted solos that were composed of intricate yet swinging statements that were never less than euphonious.

Ellis and Simpkins repeat their duo sessions Friday and Saturday at Lunaria in Los Angeles.