Unexpected Guests Add to Already Lively Party

Impresario Jack Wood aptly calls his weekly gathering at Restaurant Kikuya a jazz party. And like any party, Woods’ get-together is judged by the quality of its guests. And you never know who is going to show up.

Take Thursday’s show. The already-promising booking of clarinetist-saxophonist Steve Wilkerson and vocalist Andrea Baker became an extra-special occasion when the evening included respected pianist Milcho Leviev and a surprise visit from trumpeter Jack Sheldon.

But this would have been a memorable evening based only on the efforts of the singer and reed-playing band leader Wilkerson.

Just back from a clarinet summit at the University of Oklahoma, Wilkerson used the appearance to focus on that underused woodwind. Fresh off nearly a month of six-hour-a-day practice sessions, the clarinetist was on his game.

Even as he opened with a bouncy “The Days of Wine and Roses,” it was clear that Wilkerson had complete control. He swooped and soared, pausing only to add blues accents or a deliberate echo of a previously stated line. Though not as technically aggressive as fellow clarinetist Eddie Daniels, Wilkerson did show speed and agility as he improvised, while concentrating on a convincing, melodic flow.

Control was also the focus of singer Baker’s performance, as she demonstrated a firm rhythmic grip, both when singing a lyric and scatting. She varied the speed of her delivery from line to line, hanging behind the beat or punctuating each word just ahead of the band.

Despite Baker’s fondness for rhythmic variations, her phrasing also came with an even flow, even as she stylized on such challenges as the up-tempo, bossa nova-paced “No More Blues” by Antonio Carlos Jobim.

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Baker was at her most revealing in duets with Leviev. As the two introduced “I’m Old Fashioned,” their sounds seemed to intertwine, taking on an innocent quality especially appropriate to the lyric. Their work together on Billy Strayhorn’s “Lush Life” perfectly reflected the mood of the lounge-lizard classic.

Leviev, the Bulgarian-born pianist-composer who has worked with Don Ellis, Willie Bobo and the jazz-classical hybrid band Free Flight, is an amazingly inventive soloist.

He brought bop, swing and classical touches to his play, all presented in dense harmonic fashion. During his solo on “In a Sentimental Mood,” he worked in lines from Ellington’s “Rockin’ in Rhythm” as well as Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring.”

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With Sheldon sitting in for the second set, the music took on an additional layer. The trumpeter played low, often long-held tones beneath Baker’s voice, then soloed with surprising speed and lightness. His tone was airy as he sprinted through lines, then would burst with sharp clarity as he blew a single, bright, high-note.

The rhythm section, with Leviev, bassist Kevin Axt and one-time Count Basie Orchestra drummer Greg Field, kept everything in motion. The three mirrored each other in intensity, building together during a hard-swinging solo from Wilkerson’s clarinet on “Blues Walk,” or accenting the melancholy drama of “In a Sentimental Mood.”

The band excelled as it put together a pair of tunes from Ellington collaborator Strayhorn, managing to shift easily from the moody “Lush Life” to the upbeat “Take the A Train.” Baker, who announced that she would honor the memory of Ella Fitzgerald during the medley, cleverly sounded a number of the late singer’s themes as she scatted on “Train.”