Still Playing Solo : Grammy-nominated drummer Terri-Lyne Carrington is looking for a recording company that will appreciate her eclectic sound. She’ll be at La Ve Lee tonight.

There’s nothing Terri-Lyne Carrington would like better than to see a few sympathetic record company artists and repertoire people in the audience when she performs at La Ve Lee tonight.

“I’d love to get together,” she said in a conversation earlier this week, “with an A & R guy who’s interested in working with a performer who’s a little left of center, but with some real commercial appeal.”

The 27-year-old drummer’s first album sold more than 100,000 copies and was nominated for a Grammy Award. Like many young artists responding to the multiplicity of styles active in today’s music, however, Carrington has had difficulty persuading record companies of the value of her eclectic creative vision.

“I call the kind of music I’m working on now alternative black music,” said Carrington, “which isn’t really talked much about because there’s no such category. When most people think about alternative rock, they generally think of white rock bands. Black artists are usually thought of as rap, hip-hop, and rhythm and blues.

“Well, there are a lot of black artists who are trying to do other styles and other kinds of music--music that isn’t just R & B or black radio styles. But there’s a real problem for black artists who want to try something different because the record industry wants you to either do rap or something for black radio, or else do jazz or adult contemporary kind of stuff.”

The music Carrington will perform tonight is a direct reflection of her interests. A highly praised percussionist who is especially proficient with Elvin Jones-inspired polyrhythms, she will have her jazz drumming on full display.

“I’ll be doing other stuff, too,” she said. “People know me as a jazz artist, and that’s what they want to hear from me. But I’m just not all the way there, right now, although I do like that stuff. So I experiment with a lot of different things--with singing, doing rock, playing different kinds of grooves, maybe some rap and straight ahead jazz, as well.”

Although her singing may be in somewhat short supply at La Ve Lee--the result of not having a second drummer available for the gig--Carrington is quite serious about developing a strong vocal capability.

“Yeah, I’m going to do it,” she said with a laugh. “But I’m a musician, so I know what the problems are. I know I’m going to be criticized as a singer, so I’ll make sure to keep the setting as good and as supportive as I possibly can.”

La Ve Lee’s music manager, Olivier Vabois, one of Carrington’s biggest fans, is delighted that she’s chosen his room in which to showcase her emerging ideas. “I think she’s one of the most talented drummers on the scene,” he said. “And I’m really looking forward to hearing the new directions in the music she’s bringing to the club this week.”

Born in Boston in 1965, Carrington was raised in a musical family. Her father was an R & B saxophonist, and her grandfather played drums with such luminaries as Fats Waller. Carrington started on saxophone at age 5, “but I had to give it up when my baby teeth fell out,” she said.

As soon as she began to pound on the drums, however, “there was no doubt about what my choice of an instrument would be.”

Carrington attended the Berklee School of Music in Boston on a full scholarship, and started appearing professionally with major-league players while still a teen-ager. Among her present commitments, she is most fond of her work with the Al Jarreau backup band.

“He’s a first-class guy,” she said, “and what’s really great is that sometimes he can do polyrhythms with his voice that are as good as anything I can do on a drum set.”

Despite the demand for her rhythm-section abilities and her current role as a kind of super side person, Carrington’s goal is the establishment of her own group, playing her own music. The quest has not been easy.

“It seems like the record companies want to sign artists who are already wrapped up in a package with a bow on it, instead of taking a chance with one who is still evolving,” she said. “An artist like me, who doesn’t rely on computers, who has to make her own real-time, acoustic, non-computerized demos, could use some knowledgeable help in developing my skills. But there’s not a lot of help out there.

“The main thing that I’ve got going for me, aside from my talent,” she continued, “is that a lot of people know me from my first album, and from my work with Al Jarreau.

“So if anybody’s interested in trying something that’s not tied up in a neat package, or if they’re interested in being creative and maybe going out on a limb themselves, I hope they’ll come down and hear me. Because that’s the kind of person I’d like to work with.”

WHERE AND WHEN

* Who: Drummer Terri-Lyne Carrington.

* Location: La Ve Lee, 12514 Ventura Blvd., Studio City.

* Hours: 8 p.m. to midnight tonight; dinner served from 6 p.m.

* Price: $5 cover, two-drink minimum.

* Call: (818) 980-8158.