Ruiz Quartet Plays With Ease, Spontaneity in Intriguing Show

Sometimes the best performances take place before the smallest crowds. Thursday night at La Ve Lee in Studio City, the relatively sparse audience didn’t seem to bother keyboardist Otmaro Ruiz and his quartet at all. The performance, in fact, had the relaxed intimacy of a jam session, with the musicians clearly caught up in the sheer pleasure of making music.

Although the Venezuelan-born Ruiz was on the American jazz scene for most of the ‘90s (he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in jazz performance from CalArts in ’91 and ‘93), he has had surprisingly low visibility, given the high quality of his playing and the fact that he has appeared with everyone from Arturo Sandoval and Stevie Winwood to Herb Alpert and Vikki Carr.

Working with a group that included tenor saxophonist Gary Meek and drummer Aaron Serfaty, with Yellowjackets bassist Jimmy Haslip sitting in as a guest artist, Ruiz was highly effective, both as a composer and a player.

His opening tune--a new number tentatively titled “Another Path”--was structured around a dramatically repeated bass note that served as grounding for a series of high-flying solos. Ruiz’s extended choruses were masterful combinations of thick, synth textures alternated with brisk, single-note bop lines.

Other pieces were similarly intriguing, often comfortably mixing elements from different jazz genres.

Meek was an effective partner, his obviously enthusiastic interaction with Ruiz a constantly energizing part of the program. Although his playing was rooted in the rapid-fire fusion styles of the ‘70s and ‘80s, Meek was a musical whirlwind, often doubling the time, always infusing his virtuosity with intense emotional passion.

Haslip’s bass work was dependable in the section and impressive in the solo passages. He worked particularly well with Serfaty’s crisp, intelligent drumming.

Curiously, the evening’s only slight glitch came when Ruiz spontaneously decided to do a quick run through Charlie Parker’s blues, “Au Privave.” The tempo was extremely rapid, and--surprisingly--Meek didn’t seem familiar with the classic line. But the soloing more than made up for the initial confusion, with Ruiz coming up with a stunning improvisation that was both a mini-history of jazz keyboard and a personal expression of his own expansive musical eclecticism. So eclectic, in fact, that the group finished the number with a switch to Thelonious Monk’s “Straight, No Chaser.” It’s the kind of spontaneity that makes jam session-type evenings fun.

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* Otmaro Ruiz Quartet performs at Rocco Ristorante (with Serfaty, saxophonist Brandon Fields and bassist Dave Carpenter), 2930 Beverly Glen Circle, Bel-Air, (310) 475-9807, on Wednesday, and returns to La Ve Lee, 12514 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, (818) 980-8158, on Thursday.