Insight expands his music

Billy Childs is a Los Angeles jazz treasure. As a pianist, he possesses the improvisatory skills and powerful sense of swing one associates with world-class artists. He is a thoughtful observer of the jazz scene with a born educator’s insightful view of its many complexities. And, perhaps most importantly, Childs is an inventive composer and arranger whose efforts in those areas consistently expand the dimensions of the jazz genre -- and beyond. (His commissioned works have been performed by ensembles from the Los Angeles Philharmonic to the Dorian Wind Quintet.)

All those qualities were on display Thursday night at Rocco’s when he offered a kind of workshop performance of a group of compositions for a jazz chamber ensemble consisting of saxophonist Bob Sheppard, guitarist Larry Koonse, harpist Carol Robbins, bassist Reggie Hamilton and drummer Marvin “Smitty” Smith, with Childs leading the proceedings from the piano.

The works were diverse: “Aaron’s Song,” a lighthearted, gently swinging tribute to his son; “American Landscape,” a piece triggered, Childs noted, when he began hearing phrases steeped in the triadic melodies typical of patriotic songs; “Hope in the Face of Despair,” in which currents of musical optimism were enhanced by Sheppard’s well-crafted soloing; and a lush, harmonically layered arrangement of “Scarborough Fair,” inspired, said Childs, by the Simon & Garfunkel version, but clearly the expression of his own fertile imagination.

Smith, in particular, established a rhythmic foundation that was both energizing and supportive; Koonse, who seems comfortable in almost any musical setting, soloed with a careful ear for his musical surroundings, and the lead players -- Childs, Robbins, Koonse and Sheppard -- convincingly assembled the many subtle cross currents of musical timbre and color coursing through Childs’ beautifully conceived compositions and arrangements.

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Billy Childs

Where: Rocco’s, 6320 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood

When: Tonight and Sunday, 10:30 p.m.

Price: $10

Contact: (323) 804-4146