POP MUSIC REVIEW : Hornsby Show as Lively as Dead Concert

Bruce Hornsby, who played the Wiltern Theatre on Thursday, is back from the Dead--the Grateful Dead, that is--and it shows.

The singer-pianist is on his first tour, promoting his latest album, “Harbor Lights,” since spending a year-and-a-half playing keyboards for the Dead, which clearly influenced him. He’s never been quite this eclectic and liberated.

His nearly three-hour show was a wild, free-form, joyous affair, bouncing from genre to genre--exploring pop, rock, jazz, blues, gospel and funk. There were strange stylistic mixes, with some numbers stretched into limitless jams.

Sound familiar?

It really was as loose and unpredictable as a Dead show, with special guests adding to the ad-lib feel. Bonnie Raitt dropped in to sing “I Can’t Make You Love Me” and saxophonist Branford Marsalis sat in on a few numbers, clearly inspiring Hornsby’s band to a higher level.

The difference in Hornsby these days is that he’s fully indulging his passion for jazz, which infused most of his numbers Thursday. As a pianist, he’s fairly accomplished, with a style that ranges all over the place, from a Bill Evans-like serenity to the raging gospel-funk of Les McCann. With Marsalis’ help, Hornsby and his band even played a creditable version of the Miles Davis classic “So What?”

Basically, though, Hornsby is a pop balladeer who’s at his best simply accompanying himself on piano and crooning his own literate, meditative songs--which he did a number of times. Hornsby isn’t a polished singer--he strains too much--but his ragged style does have an endearing charm and he’s quite capable of delivering a heart-tugging performance.