Bossa Nova Pulses at Guitar Jam

The best jazz bargain in town--John Pisano’s guitar jams at Spazio in Sherman Oaks--was especially rewarding Tuesday night. The ever-energetic guitarist, his versatility well-established over the years via gigs ranging from the Tijuana Brass to Joe Pass, was accompanied in the front line by the equally gifted and experienced Brazilian artist Oscar Castro-Neves.

Add to that the bass playing of Abraham Laboriel, the keyboard work of Frank Zottoli and the percussion of Machito Sanchez, and the ingredients for a first-rate evening were firmly in place. Although another important Brazilian guitarist, Dori Caymmi, was unable to make the performance, the results nonetheless delivered the sort of engaging, high-spirited musical experience that is beginning to draw ever-larger crowds to the weekly guitar events.

Typically, the flow of the performance was largely spontaneous. Starting out with a set featuring Pisano and the rhythm section, the music roved easily from “Tangerine” to “How Insensitive,” with Pisano interacting smoothly with Zottoli’s unusual combination of keyboard sounds, Sanchez’s colorful percussion timbres and Laboriel’s always energetic bass solos.

When Castro-Neves joined the group for the balance of the evening, the pendulum swung in the direction of Brazilian music, especially bossa nova. And in Castro-Neves--who was present in Rio, as a very young man, when the music began to emerge in the ‘50s--the performance gained an irresistible subtext of rhythmic subtlety.

Sitting side by side, smilingly tossing phrases back and forth, the guitarists played a range of Antonio Carlos Jobim classics, “Chega De Saudade” among them, throwing in some arrangements from their past performances together (including a delicate rendering of the Chopin C minor Prelude).

In the final set, Castro-Neves added a vocal interpretation of his own “Chora Tua Tristeza,” written when he was 16, that turned out to be one of the evening’s unexpected highlights. In a classic example of what makes the guitar nights so fascinating, the song--completely unfamiliar to the other players--began solely with Castro-Neves’ guitar and voice. But by the time he was halfway through, Pisano had picked up on the chords, soon joined by Laboriel and Zottoli, with Sanchez adding crisp rhythmic accents, all of it resulting in a joyous celebration of the pleasures of musical spontaneity.

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John Pisano’s Guitar Night at Spazio, 14755 Ventura Blvd., 2nd Floor, Sherman Oaks. Tuesdays, 8 to 12 p.m. No cover; two drink minimum. Special guests: Tuesday, Anthony Wilson; Oct. 2, flutist Ali Ryerson and guitarist Joe Beck. (818) 728-8400.