MUSIC REVIEW : Blues-Classical Mesh at CSLA

Over the decades, there have been numerous attempts to combine jazz and classical music. But Corky Siegel, blues harp whiz and pianist-composer, is working a sparsely populated field in his efforts to arrange a happy blues-classical marriage.

In his “Chamber Blues” project, at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex at Cal State L.A. on Saturday, Siegel was joined by the West End String Quartet and percussionist Frank Donaldson--playing mostly tabla--in an evening of shameless, idiom-grafting fun. Too often, though, this proved to be a musical marriage in which the parties bend over backwards to be polite, to make an odd-couple relationship work.

Chicago-based Siegel has a resume which extends back to the popular blues-championing Siegel-Schwall Band of the ‘60s and ‘70s, as well as blues-orchestral projects with Seiji Ozawa. He’s on a mission, and hasn’t arrived yet.

It’s never quite clear when tongue is in cheek with the jocular Siegel, and we’re not sure how calculated the kitsch factor is. He assigns opus numbers to his pieces--usually elaborations on two or three chords--and tends to blend mock Mozartean writing, all gooped up with glissando and blue notes, and bluesy riffing.

The strength is in the riff. Siegel makes his harmonica preach, moan, brag, and joke, even when the context goes fuzzy. For all its good humor and good intentions, “Chamber Blues” comes across as more of a parlor trick than a coherent synthesis of high/low culture. It’s good clean fun. Too clean.