JAZZ REVIEW : Miller Shows Range of Stylistic Touches

Maybe Mulgrew Miller is just too modest and unassuming to become famous. How else to explain the relative unfamiliarity of a pianist who has been one of the most consistently dependable and durable performers of the last decade?

Miller’s appearance at the Jazz Bakery on Wednesday in the opening set of a four-night run underscored what musicians and critics have been saying for years--that the 40-year-old veteran of stints with the Duke Ellington Orchestra and the ensembles of Betty Carter, Art Blakey and Tony Williams is an artist with the imagination and vitality to be positioned in the front row of contemporary jazz musicians.

Standards such as “If I Should Lose You,” “Stairway to the Stars” and “Come Rain or Come Shine” provided much of the foundation for Miller’s program, with the addition of a couple of originals--most notably a gently playful waltz, “Carousel.”

A large, composed-looking man, he performed with a steady sense of easygoing calm and assurance, and few overt dramatics. Despite his visible sedateness, however, almost every tune contained a kernel or two of improvisational fascination--sudden little bursts of musical revelation.

But there was one problem. If Miller’s playing revealed any single reason for his obscurity to the wider jazz audience, it was the far-ranging stylistic aspect of his improvisations. There were times when one heard the thick-textured rhythmics of McCoy Tyner and times when Miller dipped into the two-handed block chording of George Shearing. He was Bud Powell-boppish in some passages, Oscar Peterson-swinging in others.

It was all done superbly, even easily, with stellar support from the rhythm team of Richie Goods, bass, and Ron Savage, drums. Yet it was difficult to avoid the feeling that, ironic as it seems--especially in a player who can generate so much coloration and contrast--Miller may not completely blossom into the unique artist he is capable of becoming until he moves past the multiple external influences to more fully express his own creative voice.

* The Mulgrew Miller Trio at the Jazz Bakery through Saturday, 3233 Helms Ave, (310) 271-9039. $20 admission. Miller performs one show, at 8:30 p.m.