Prime Country, All in One Package : Pop review: Vince Gill is Mr. Versatility as he covers the musical field with grace and confidence at the Greek. And Oklahoma’s bluegrass-trained tenor leaves out the hokum.

It used to be that if you wanted to see the most versatile star in country music, you were stuck with Roy Clark pickin’ ‘n’ grinnin’ his way through cornball antics as he showed off his skills on a variety of instruments and styles.

At the Greek Theatre on Thursday, Vince Gill showed that he’s setting new standards for country variety--and without the hokum.

“I don’t have anything that blows up or inflates,” he joked in a rare self-referential moment.

Sure, Garth Brooks may be a more gregariously ambitious presence, George Strait may have a more pure country voice, and dozens of others may write good songs more consistently than Gill. But who else offers the whole package?

Thursday, the easygoing Oklahoman’s bluegrass-trained high tenor moved gracefully and confidently between romantic ballads, mournful weepers, rocking swing and country-pop crossovers.

His songs--though sometimes dry and uninvolving on record--came to the fore in concert with a depth and subtlety often missing in country. And he flat-out dazzled the enthusiastic crowd with his nimble guitar playing.

About the only one of his talents this golf enthusiast didn’t display on stage was putting.

The real marvel is that Gill did all this without any sense that he was showing off. Where so many others in country make a big deal about being regular guys with their overdone golly-gosh manner and blue-collar jingoism, Gill simply is a regular guy.

Where others devise showy spotlight segments for their--or more likely, their band members’--instrumental skills, Gill and his accomplished nine-piece group simply played.

Even a showcase for singer Dawn Sears fit in naturally, as she put forth her Brenda Lee-meets-Reba McEntire vocals on a hot “Oklahoma Swing” duet with Gill, and as the lead on two other songs.

*

What it all added up to was a sparkling show with Gill investing equal life in his weepy cheating song, “Pocketful of Gold,” and such upbeat swing tunes as “South Side of Dixie.”

If there’s a flaw, it’s the common curse of a performer whose talent seems so effortless that you don’t feel him stretching artistically. That’s more a problem on his too-low-key albums than it was on stage where his genuine joy in the music flowed freely.

Gill doesn’t really break any new ground, he just covers more of it than anyone else in contemporary country.

* Vince Gill plays on Sunday with Trisha Yearwood and Larry Stewart at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, 8800 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine, 7:30 p.m. $25-$37.50. (714) 855-4515.

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