Sample Provides Solid Improvising, Jazz Stylings

Joe Sample’s success in pop and R&B; has sometimes tended to obscure his very real abilities as a jazz pianist and composer. The pioneering work he did with the early Jazz Crusaders (a group he co-founded) and his fine, straight-ahead dates of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s have been overshadowed by a long string of crossover, groove-oriented recordings.

But Sample’s pop endeavors haven’t diminished his jazz skills at all. Tuesday, in the opening set of a six-night run at Catalina Bar & Grill, he made it very clear that--pop music interests aside--he continues to be a solid improviser with a firm grip on virtually every aspect of the jazz piano lexicon.

It took him a while to make that point, however. Initially, the set seemed fated to move in the orbit of Sample’s groove-styled music. Relying mostly on originals, he laid out a series of pieces dominated by hard-hitting chord patterns and fleet, right-hand melody lines. The full-house audience loved every bit of it, responding enthusiastically, especially in the moments when Sample spun out chord passages behind the driving bass of Jay Anderson and the showcase drumming of Walfredo Reyes.

In the second half of the set, however, Sample made an abrupt stylistic change as he turned to the old standard “It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie,” from an as yet unreleased album. Performed as a dedication to pianist-singer Fats Waller, who was closely associated with the tune, Sample used it as a departure point into a steaming set of stride piano choruses--swinging hard and transforming his program into an impressive jazz outing. Underlining his point, he followed with a Nat “King” Cole-inspired rendering of “Gee, Baby Ain’t I Good to You,” once again setting aside the funk rhythms for a blues-drenched sequence of visceral improvisations.

It was great stuff, especially in the latter part of the evening. If there was a problem with the set, it was Sample’s delay in cranking up his clearly first-rate jazz skills. Less groove and more swing might not have pleased the funk fans in the crowd, but it would have made for an even more impressive jazz outing.

* Joe Sample Trio at Catalina Bar & Grill through Sunday, 1640 N. Cahuenga Blvd., (213) 466-2210. $27 cover tonight, $27 cover Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with two-drink minimum. Shows at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m., except Sunday at 7 and 9 p.m.