Payton, Chestnut Double Up at Jazz Bakery

It wasn’t quite double-your-pleasure Wednesday night at the Jazz Bakery, but it wasn’t bad. The rare double booking of the Nicholas Payton Quintet with the Cyrus Chestnut Trio brought two of the more prominent jazz lions to the same stage to support their new albums, as well as their participation in the yet-to-be-released Robert Altman film “Kansas City.”

Both are skillful young artists. And, despite their sometimes too-persistent preoccupation with well-established jazz styles, they managed to bring occasional enlightening perspectives to their performances.

In Payton’s case, however, technique usually dominated over insight--not particularly surprising for a youthful trumpeter. More problematic, and perhaps a reflection of opening night uncertainty, his set lacked the crisp, involving, emotional spark that pulls the listener into the music.

Not until he kicked off the Louis Armstrong/Jelly Roll Morton classic “Wild Man Blues” and the traditional “Li’l Liza Jane” from his just-issued Verve album, “Gumbo Nouveau,” did Payton finally began to emerge as a warm, communicative player. Clearly inspired by Armstrong on “Wild Man Blues,” he strung together a sparkling collection of half valve flares, glissandi, growls and soaring high notes. It was a small indication, but an impressive one, of Payton’s potential for building imaginative interpretations out of retro source material.

Chestnut, on the other hand, appears to have already found his groove. And it is firmly directed in a path well explored by other pianists such as Ahmad Jamal, Les McCann and Ramsey Lewis. On almost every tune, from the initial “East of the Sun and West of the Moon” to a group of originals from his new Atlantic release, “Earth Stories,” the jovial Chestnut laid down solid, propulsive rhythms that triggered frequent shouts of enthusiasm from the nearly full house.

Fortunately, his inherent sense of the dramatic, like Jamal’s, added pacing and revelation to a style that might, otherwise, become repetitious. Even more compelling were the few ballad moments he offered, in which Chestnut displayed a lush harmonic touch suggesting that there are as yet unexplored musical depths beneath his brisk, crowd-pleasing performances.

* The Cyrus Chestnut Trio and the Nicholas Payton Quintet at the Jazz Bakery through Sunday. 3233 Helms Avenue. (310) 271-9039. $20 admission tonight and Saturday at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. and Sunday at 8 p.m. $18 admission Sunday at 3 p.m.