A Warm Musical Connection Between Pals

Earlier this year, pianist Roger Kellaway performed at the Jazz Bakery in a duo with clarinetist Eddie Daniels. The mood was spirited, and the music was filled with stunning displays of creative virtuosity.

On Tuesday night, Kellaway returned to the Bakery, again in a duo, but with strikingly different results. His partner this time, for a weeklong run that is being recorded for subsequent CD release, is veteran cornetist Ruby Braff. And the atmosphere, on opening night, was relaxed, congenial, even homey.

Braff, who turned 74 in March, has long been one of the dedicated practitioners of swing-style playing, unfazed by decades of bebop, fusion and electronica, happily playing his lyrical music in a manner so engaging that it can be easy to underestimate its deep, inherent creativity. He is also a marvelous humorist and raconteur.

Every number was introduced with some sort of witty repartee from Braff, often recalling incidents from distant gigs of the past, repeatedly expressing his pleasure over working with Kellaway (whom he has known for nearly five decades). At one point in his late set, clearly enjoying himself, he turned to Kellaway and said, “It’s so easy playing with you. It’s like dancing with Fred Astaire. But I even like you better than Fred Astaire.”

Kellaway was less voluble, but no less enthusiastic about the musical encounter. Mostly concentrating upon standards such as “The Devil and the Deep Blue See,” “Memories of You” and “Lady Be Good,” the two juxtaposed their very different styles with easygoing empathy.

Braff’s to-the-point improvisations, delivered with the warm tone and slight, emphatic quavers at the end of phrases that are his trademarks, remained firmly in touch with the spirit of the tunes. Kellaway, in contrast, roved freely, tossing in whimsical bits of stride style, verging occasionally into avant-garde clusters and providing a richly textured, complex canvas of sound to wrap around Braff’s soloing.

The result was a warm and engaging evening, far more a musical conversation among friends than a commercial performance. And the mood was enhanced, poignantly, when Kellaway closed the set with a solo performance of “Remembering You,” a song he wrote with Carroll O’Connor that served as the closing theme for the late actor’s sitcom “All in the Family.”

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* Roger Kellaway and Ruby Braff at the Jazz Bakery, 3233 Helms Ave., Culver City. Tonight through Sunday at 8 and 9:30 p.m. $25 admission. (310) 271-9039.