Garvin Makes a Case for Himself in Leading Role

Pianist Tom Garvin has been a Los Angeles jazz fixture for decades, a dependable studio musician as well as a versatile artist who has played with everyone from Don Ellis and Ray Brown to Carmen McRae, Natalie Cole and Diane Schuur.

His visibility, however, has remained surprisingly low. And that’s hard to understand, given the quality of his performance at Spazio in Sherman Oaks on Friday night. Working with bassist Dave Carpenter and drummer Kendall Kay, Garvin displayed, in tune after tune, the articulately crafted keyboard style that is the foundation of his playing.

The program featured standards--”I’ll Close My Eyes” and “I Fall in Love Too Easily” among them--as well as a few Garvin originals. It was the former that best revealed his ability to add color and texture to his harmonies, while spinning out floating melodic statements.

On the faster-paced numbers, his improvisations poured out in a seemingly nonstop flow of notes, arching in and around the chords, occasionally erupting into crisp, two-handed accents. At times, in fact, the accumulation of notes seemed overwhelming, delivered with such persistence that one wished that Garvin would pause a bit from time to time to allow some light and air to open up his phrasing. It was the only real flaw in his otherwise splendid soloing.

Garvin’s efforts were both matched and supported by Carpenter’s bass contributions. An equally eloquent soloist, he played with remarkable fluidity, moving easily from resonating low strings to his instrument’s highest notes, executing hard-swinging lines with the ease of a cellist. And the interaction between Garvin and Carpenter--who have performed together frequently--had the intuitive qualities of old friends who can anticipate and complete each other’s sentences.

Kay’s drumming never quite achieved that level of integration. Nor did his occasionally choppy rhythmic style appear well matched to the more even flow of the other players. That caveat aside, it was good to hear Garvin in action, especially in the elegant surroundings of Spazio’s new jazz stage.