Amiable Interaction Flows Between Frishberg, Dorough

For fans of jazz as commentary, of jazz as wry humor, of jazz as a means to celebrate the absurdities of life, this is a one-of-a-kind week at the Jazz Bakery. Working side by side, at two grand pianos, are a pair of the most marvelously gifted, whimsically sardonic jazz artists of the last few decades: Dave Frishberg and Bob Dorough. And, in their opening set Tuesday night, they gave a performance that promised an extraordinary week of musical wit and wisdom.

They opened with a piece of new material that summed up their incipient partnership with the lines, “After this opening hello/Which fellow follows which fellow/As Abbott explained to Costello/Who’s on first?” It was the perfect setup for the amiable flow of musical interaction that was to follow.

Frishberg continued with a brief solo set, opening with his anthem to a time when musicians’ ambitions were easily defined: “I Want to Be a Sideman.” As a special fillip for musical insiders, he framed the tune with opening and closing phrases replicating the introduction to “In the Mood,” by the Glenn Miller Orchestra--at one time the ultimate sideman’s destination.

Frishberg also sang his lyrics to the Zoot Sims classic “The Red Door” (which Frishberg calls “Zoot Walks In”) and “Quality Time,” a tune about the perils of love in an era of electronic media. Then, in an uproarious shift of musical gears, he did Dorough’s “Just About Everything,” doing a letter-perfect impression of Dorough’s idiosyncratic style.

Although Dorough can be as humorous as Frishberg, he also possesses a darker, somewhat more enigmatic quality that was especially apparent when he offered “Where Is the Song?,” a new ballad tinged with subtle layers of meaning. He added the lighthearted “I’ve Got a Small Day Tomorrow” and a tune written with Frishberg, “I’m Hip”--a first-person description of a character determined to be on the cutting edge (“I even call my girlfriend ‘Man’ ”).

The bountiful program wound up with duo versions of Charlie Parker’s “Yardbird Suite” (with Dorough lyrics); a new Dorough-Frishberg number, “I Could Care Less” (completely based on the throwaway lines of everyday life); and a pair of closing encores--Dorough’s superb “Love Came” and Frishberg’s classic “Blizzard of Lies.” And, even with all that, a wildly responsive audience was reluctant to end the evening--a rare and splendid example of the capacity of music to illuminate both the wonders and the ironies of life.

* Bob Dorough and Dave Frishberg at the Jazz Bakery through Sunday. 3233 Helms Ave., Culver City. (310) 271-9039. $25 admission tonight and Saturday at 8 and 9:30 p.m., and $18 admission Sunday at 7 p.m. Also a special Sunday matinee featuring Dorough and Frishberg with their songs for the ABC-TV series “Schoolhouse Rock,” at 4 p.m., $5 admission for kids, $18 for adults.