Dinner, Wood Trio at Overland Cafe

The Overland Cafe, on the avenue of the same name, features jazz trio music Fridays and Saturdays (there are also Sunday jazz brunches). On Saturday night, the incumbent was pianist John Wood.

When jazz is offered as a virtual obligato to dinner, there are problems at times in engaging the attention of the audience. Wood ran into this difficulty for the first couple of numbers, perhaps because they were overly familiar (Miles Davis’ “All Blues” and George Gershwin’s “Summertime”) or more probably because the tempos were a little too fast for comfort.

Herbie Hancock’s “Maiden Voyage” found Wood more convincingly engaged in delivering the essence of the composition. Even more effective was his first original, a buoyant piece called “Upsadaisy.”

The bass work of John B. Williams, who recently celebrated his thousandth performance on “The Arsenio Hall Show,” was a high point. Joe La Barbera, a versatile and sensitive drummer best known for his tours with Tony Bennett, took advantage of the chance to swing in 5/4 on Paul Desmond’s “Take Five.”

After displaying his blues chops in a confident romp on “The Sermon,” Wood again delved into his library for a charming original waltz, “Nearer.” He would be well advised to concentrate even more extensively on his own works.

The Wood trio will return to the Overland every Saturday until further notice.