Chick Corea Trio Fills a Tall Order

There’s nothing quite like the experience of hearing jazz at its optimal level, performed with virtuosic brilliance, combined with unfettered improvisation and synergistic musical interaction. That may sound like a tall order, but it’s pretty much what was on tap at Catalina Bar & Grill on Tuesday night in the performance of the Chick Corea Trio.

Jazz fans are advised that the performances--easily among the musical highlights of the year--continue at the club through Sunday.

There were many things to praise about the work of the Corea Trio. The first was the sheer sense of pleasure that was a constant factor in the musical connectivity. Corea, comfortably playing the role of paterfamilias to his younger companions, bassist Avishai Cohen and drummer Jeff Ballard, was vividly aware of their every move, smiling happily at particularly imaginative passages.

Less obvious, but equally important, were the many subtle ways in which he supported them--adding textural contrast to Ballard’s solos, accenting and energizing Avishai’s fast-fingered flights of fancy.

The program of music was no less impressive, starting with the Irving Berlin standard “How Deep Is the Ocean?,” moving on to Fats Waller’s “Jitterbug Waltz” and continuing with a group of new original works scheduled to be included in Corea’s next album.

And that latter material--especially pieces titled “Fingerprints,” “Cloud Candy” and “Rumba Flamenco”--was fully up to Corea’s usual high compositional standards. More to the point, the pieces generated some extraordinary playing from the trio, including a stunning, high-speed segment in “Fingerprints” that was a brilliant example of the sense of creative liberation that can take place when virtuosic jazz artists are operating, in tandem, at the peak level of their skills. For the packed house audience, it was an experience to be savored and remembered.

As was Corea’s playing, which was the engine and the inspiration for this superb performance. His soloing was a polished, mature combination of spontaneous composition and brisk, hard-driving swing, delivered via a technical facility completely at the service of Corea’s constant flow of ideas. An extraordinary performance, all around, of state-of-the-art contemporary jazz, and one not to be missed.

* The Chick Corea Trio at Catalina Bar & Grill, 1640 N. Cahuenga Blvd. Tonight at 8:30 and 10:30, $24 cover. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, $30 cover at 8:30 p.m., $26 cover at 10:30 p.m. Two-drink minimum. (323) 466-2210.