Returning to Chapter One of a Storied Career

“Renaissance man” is a phrase that comes easily to mind when one takes a look at the career of Roger Kellaway. Pianist, bassist, composer, arranger: You name it and there’s a strong likelihood that he’s done it.

Next week, Kellaway will be working in relatively minimalist mode when he performs with cornetist Ruby Braff in a weeklong run at the Jazz Bakery in Culver City. As with an early duo booking featuring Kellaway and clarinetist Eddie Daniels, each night’s performance will be recorded for future release on a CD.

Working with Braff takes Kellaway back to his earliest musical roots.

“I’ve known Ruby for 44 years,” he says, “since I was 17 years old. In fact, when Concord approached him with me as a possible duo partner for the ‘Inside & Out’ album, his response was ‘Great. I love bass players.’ Because when I first met him, I was a kid bass player in Boston.”

That, however, was a long time ago, and the empathy between Kellaway and Braff, when the album was recorded in the mid-’90s immediately superseded the instrumentation.

“There’s a fundamental simplicity and directness to playing with Ruby that was immediately apparent,’ recalls the articulate, soft-spoken Kellaway. “Normally, when I’ve played with traditional people--and I do consider Ruby to be a traditional musician, even though he’s extremely modern in terms of the way he approaches his style--I’ve usually pulled back a bit. Which is what I did for most of the CD.

“But then, at one point, Ruby turned to me and said, ‘You know, let’s play a couple of choruses, and then you just go crazy.’ I said, ‘Really?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, you just go nuts; do whatever you want.’ So I said OK.”

Kellaway expects the Jazz Bakery gig to have a similar sense of freedom and interactivity.

“We really have a remarkable affinity,” he says. “It doesn’t matter to him where I go stylistically, and rhythmically it’ll be fabulous because of Ruby’s great sense of time. But the tunes won’t be very long. You have to remember that both Ruby and I grew up in an era in which people played on 78 rpm records, so they only played tunes for three minutes and they had to communicate their messages very succinctly. We’ll play longer than that, of course, but things will be pretty much to the point.”

Kellaway has been playing that kind of precise music since he broke into the open--as a pianist--in the ‘60s, performing with Kai Winding, Al Cohn and Zoot Sims and the Clark Terry-Bob Brookmeyer ensemble, among numerous others. His dozens of recordings include superb efforts with Ben Webster, Oliver Nelson, Wes Montgomery and Sonny Rollins.

That was just the start of a career that has ranged from work with Don Ellis’ cutting-edge ensembles of the ‘60s; a stint as musical director for singer Bobby Darin; arrangements and orchestrations for numerous singers, including Carmen McRae; and 22 film scores, including an Academy Award nomination for Barbra Streisand’s “A Star is Born”.

Add to that Kellaway’s numerous compositions, including the music for his much-praised “Cello Quartet,” a ballet commission for George Balanchine and the New York City Ballet, orchestral pieces for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the National Symphony and the New American Orchestra, and a variety of chamber works.

“Renaissance man,” under the circumstances, seems right on target. But it’s not exactly the label the Massachusetts-born Kellaway, now 61, originally anticipated for himself.

“When I first came to New York in the early ‘60s,” Kellaway recalls, “I was still playing bass. A friend of mine introduced me to Jimmy Giuffre, who actually offered me a job after I sat in with him. I never took it, but I’ve often wondered what would have happened to my life if I had, because Jimmy’s next group was his great Thesis group, with Paul Bley on piano and, instead of me, Steve Swallow on bass.”

Kellaway feels, however, that he has never really left the bass behind.

“When you listen to me,” he says, “when you listen to Monty Alexander, to Kenny Barron--we’ve all played bass. And because of that, we all take the bass into account when we play, even though we find different ways to leave a space for the bass.

“And when it comes to composition, the bass takes me right into the string section, which is probably the section of the orchestra that I’m most comfortable with.”

He is equally sanguine about the diversity of areas in which he has been active, virtually throughout his career. “When I do each thing that I’m doing,” says Kellaway, “I love doing it. All the different activities don’t conflict, because they’re all a part of who I am and how I play.

“My friend Dick Hyman, who I did a couple of years of duet performances with, is the same way. He does everything from ragtime and stride to the music for Woody Allen’s films. Once, back in the ‘80s when we were working at Michael’s Pub in New York, we had just finished a set, and he turned to me and said, ‘You ever heard of this guy George Winston?’ I said, ‘Sure,’ because I knew about the New Age piano stuff he was doing. And Dick said, ‘Do you think we could do that?’ ”

“That was completely typical of him,” concludes Kellaway, “ready to absorb the next thing that’s around, go in many different directions and still maintain who he is. I’d like to think that I’m very similar to him in that way.”

Rocco Returns: Rocco Somazzi, whose jazz club, Rocco’s, in Bel-Air was a much-favored hangout until it shut down in December, is surfacing with a new venue in Hollywood. The room, at 6320 Santa Monica Blvd., will be part of a multi-function cafe and performance space. The jazz events will take place late, starting at 10:30 p.m. or later--an hour that is common in night-owl Manhattan but a bit risky for early-rising L.A. The new Rocco’s opens July 13 and 14 with a jam session mirroring the party atmosphere of the December closing (presumably in somewhat higher spirits). The first scheduled act is the James Carney Trio, appearing July 19-21. Admission prices generally will range from $8 to $10, and the room will offer espresso, pizzas and desserts, but--at this stage, at least--no alcoholic beverages. Information: (323) 804-4146.