Roberts Shows He’s a Master of Solo Piano Improvisation

Pianist Marcus Roberts’ solo appearance before an enthusiastic, nearly full house at Pepperdine University’s Smothers Theatre on Friday night was a performance to remember. Filled with musical riches--as extraordinary for its purely spontaneous nature as it was for its colorful textures and thoughtful juxtapositions of structure and rhythm--it was one of the year’s best displays of jazz skills.

Although Roberts spent a good portion of his early career playing with the Wynton Marsalis quartet and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, he made it clear that his most expansive venue is the solo stage, where his fertile imagination has a wide-open opportunity to express itself to the fullest.

Blind since the age of 5, Roberts, now 31, has a shy, diffident manner that is offset by a droll sense of humor. “I’m not sure what I’m going to play,” he said after he sat down to carefully adjust his piano bench, “but I promise you it won’t be anything I can’t do.”

And he was right about that.

Give Roberts three notes and he can mold them into an impressive blues improvisation. Give him half a dozen and he could probably transform them into an impromptu mini-suite.

He did even better with standards such as “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was,” “Someone to Watch Over Me” and “Mood Indigo,” re-composing each piece into a new work--one that was founded upon the melody and harmony of the original, but with a musical life of its own. Hearing his interpretations of these familiar tunes was like taking a backseat drive down a long-traveled road, with the chance to see and experience sights unnoticed from the viewpoint of the driver’s seat.

“It’s All Right With Me,” for example, was propelled by energizing, stride-style rhythms. “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” floated on Impressionist harmonic voicings. “Mood Indigo” was a study in register contrasts, from harp-like high notes to lush, low note chording. And a medley of ballads--especially “The Nearness of You” and the lovely “Every Time We Say Goodbye”--became delicate, melodic cameos.

Roberts’ closing piece, a tour de force setting of the hymn “Just a Closer Walk With Thee,” was even more remarkable. Comparisons with Art Tatum came to mind, not just in terms of technique, but also in terms of both artists’ unique ability to take a well-known song and make it their own.