Taylor and Lewis Jab and Parry With Piano Chords

Billy Taylor and Ramsey Lewis may be different in age and stylistic orientation, but they’re perfectly in sync when it comes to brightly swinging piano jazz. Their duo performance Friday at Cal State Long Beach’s Carpenter Performing Arts Center was a delightful display of virtuosic, chamber-jazz artistry.

Taylor, 80, is a product of the bebop era who has become a well-known educator and a frequent television advocate for jazz. Lewis, 66, also has roots in bebop, but his greatest visibility has been achieved in the crossover pop arena, most notably with his Top 10 pop hit, “The In Crowd.”

There were no signs of pop in this performance, however. At least not of recent vintage. A Gershwin medley that was one of the evening’s highlights showcased tunes that were viewed as pop songs when they first surfaced, of course. But “I Got Rhythm,” “Embraceable You,” “Lady Be Good” and “Summertime” have entered the pantheon of great music, regardless of category.

For Taylor and Lewis, they provided the opportunity for individual expression as well as some smooth, hand-in-glove musical togetherness. Lewis’ soloing on “But Not for Me” was exquisite, filled with subtle harmonic references, light-years away from “The In Crowd” and another of his chart hits, “Hang On, Sloopy.” Taylor, sounding especially buoyant on the rhythm tunes, enhanced the precision of his lines with crisp chordal jabs and parries. And together, usually with one or the other playing a walking bass line in the left hand, they generated the surge and drive of a full rhythm section.

Beyond the Gershwin numbers, the program embraced more material from the Great American Songbook--an extended tour through “Body and Soul” as well as such jazz-related classics as Dave Brubeck’s “In Your Own Sweet Way,” John Lewis’ “Django,” Oscar Peterson’s “Nigerian Marketplace” and Taylor’s “Soul Sister.”

It was no accident, of course, that the numbers chosen for this duo piano program--including the Gershwin medley--were all composed by pianists. What really mattered, though, was the capacity of Taylor and Lewis to move seamlessly from solo invention, through supportive backup playing, into rampaging ensemble passages. Call it two masters, from two generations, at the peak of their form, sharing their love of jazz.