Unpredictable Chestnut Settles for Ordinary

Pianist Cyrus Chestnut has the clear-cut potential to be just about as good as he wants to be. He is easily among the finest players in the outstanding lineup of keyboardists who have arrived on the jazz scene over the past decade.

When he is at his best, as he was in an appearance at the Jazz Bakery last year, as well as in his lovely album of spirituals “Blessed Quietness” (Atlantic), he can be an awesome improviser, his solos balancing an intelligent approach to improvisation with a burning sense of swing.

But Chestnut’s performance at the Bakery on Tuesday rarely rose to the high level of achievement he has established for himself. Problems occurred, in part because of a not particularly felicitous interaction with his current rhythm accompanists, bassist Kengo Nakamura and drummer Neal Smith. Although both are competent players, they failed to provide either the rhythmic impetus or the subtle textural interaction that made Chestnut’s performance of last year so effective.

Chestnut contributed to the difficulties by devoting most of his set to original tunes--”Miss Thing” and “The Journey” from his current album, “My Song in the Night” from “Earth Stories”--that were pleasant without being particularly compelling. Not until he dipped into the lovely standard “Everything Must Change” and a Christmas medley of “Angels We Have Heard on High” and “The Little Drummer Boy” did the real passion of Chestnut’s playing begin to emerge.

Given Chestnut’s potential, it was too little, too late. The principal impediment to his ascendancy to the top level of the jazz world has always been performance mood swings that yo-yo between the extraordinary and the mundane. This time around, the mundane was dominant, and if Chestnut is to become what he clearly has the capacity to become, he’s going to have to add consistency to his arsenal of skills.