Witty Frishberg Is in Full Irony

Dave Frishberg is a true original. A beacon of humor amid the turbulent sounds of contemporary music, he has been composing songs filled with wry and telling insights for decades. His “Peel Me a Grape” has been a hit for singers ranging from Blossom Dearie (in the ‘60s) to Diana Krall (in the ‘90s).

On Thursday, in the opening of a three-night run at the Jazz Spot in Los Feliz, Frishberg sang a number he described as his first song about Los Angeles: “I’ve Been Living Too Long in L.A.”

The tune--a kind of stream of consciousness passing through the mind of a motorist waiting in line to make a left turn on Cahuenga Boulevard--was a marvelous anthem to the hazards of Southland driving, as telling a commentary on Southern California life as was Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.”

And that was but a single entry in a melange of wit and wisdom. Like Will Rogers and Mark Twain, Frishberg finds the humor in irony and the irony in everyday life and serves them up in virtually every number: “What Did I Forget?,” for example, touched those obsessive-compulsive thoughts that occur to everyone when they can’t remember if they locked the front door or turned off the stove.

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“A Blizzard of Lies” was a laundry list of too familiar, throwaway lines--”The check is in the mail,” “We’ll get right back to you,” “I’ll love you till the day I die.” “I Was Ready but She Wasn’t Ready for Me” had its own self-evident message.

But Frishberg, who has always been a first-rate jazz pianist, also inserted little musical references that had special significance to other players. His “Dear Bix,” a tribute to legendary cornetist Bix Beiderbecke, began with a series of chords reminiscent of Beiderbecke’s classic “In a Mist.”

“I Want to Be a Sideman,” a paean to life on the musical road, opened with the introduction to the big-band classic “In the Mood,” a tune played, at some point, by every sideman since the ‘30s.

And, on “Zoot Walks In,” based on Zoot Sims’ “The Red Door,” Frishberg played a solo employing long, hard-swinging melody lines reminiscent of the work of tenor saxophonist Sims.

It was, on many levels, an evening to remember--witty, musical and entertaining, with a bit of something for everyone.

Aside from his occasional partner in musical mayhem, Bob Dorough (who performs at the Jazz Spot June 1-3), there’s no one quite like Dave Frishberg.

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* Dave Frishberg at the Jazz Spot in the Los Feliz Restaurant, 2138 Hilhurst Ave., Los Feliz. Tonight at 8, 9:30 and 11 p.m. $20. (323) 666-8666.