Singer Torme More Than His Dad’s Son

There’s no question that Steve March Torme has the right genes. As the son of jazz singer Mel Torme, he clearly has inherited some of his father’s brisk, swinging way with a song.

Torme’s performance at the Cinegrill on Tuesday, in the opening set of a five-night run, was a relaxed romp through a collection of standards, interspersed with a few original tunes. Working well with the solid trio of Brad Cole, piano; Cliff Hugo, bass; and Donny Osborne, drums, he sang with confident jazz inflections, often tossing in some riff-based scatting.

But Torme needs to rethink some of his programming, and especially the manner in which he framed his performance. Granted the identification value of the association with his famous father, the decision to underscore that connection by doing a medley of tunes associated with the senior Torme, and further emphasize it by sometimes mimicking his parent’s airy high notes, was a bit too much. Nor did it do anything to establish Torme as an independent artist.

When he worked within the boundaries of his own musical personality--most notably in his originals--Torme revealed a jaunty, lighthearted style with considerable potential, especially during an era of swing revivalism. His renderings of “Route 66” and “Straighten Up and Fly Right,” for example, invigorated the numbers with a hip ‘90s sensibility. And his lovely version of “Never, Never Land” (from “Peter Pan”) revealed a sensitive personal touch that wisely avoided association with his father.

* Steve March Torme at the Cinegrill, Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, 7000 Hollywood Blvd. Tonight at 8, $15. Friday and Saturday at 8 and 10 p.m. $20. With two-drink minimum. (213) 466-7000.