All the right notes keep prodigy in playing field

The first 30 seconds of pianist Eldar Djangirov’s set Friday at Catalina Bar & Grill brought gasps of astonishment from a mesmerized audience. Playing a solo opening to the Juan Tizol standard “Caravan,” he whipped through a set of finger-blurring passages delivered with precision, tonal variation and a brisk sense of swing.

That combination of elements would be the theme for the balance of the performance by the 18-year-old Kyrgyzstan-born musician’s trio. Ranging across familiar jazz repertoire -- the classic ballad “Body and Soul,” Bobby Timmons’ soul jazz anthem “Moanin’ ” -- as well as his own original music, Eldar (in performance he uses just his first name) displayed all the characteristics of a jazz prodigy.

He was born in the Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan and has lived in the U.S. since he was 9. After a few years in the jazz incubator of Kansas City, Eldar began collecting a variety of awards and started recording under his own name four years ago (his latest album was released in March on Sony Classical).

Fast playing, of course, does not necessarily equal good jazz. Almost any Lester Young solo will prove the effectiveness of the right notes in the right places, even if the notes are few in number. Art Tatum, on the other hand, showed what powerful effect a profusion of notes can have.

Eldar appears to have the innate talent to cover both bases, although that talent is in its nascent stage. Ballads are always the best test of a young jazz artist’s maturity. His rendering of “Body and Soul” revealed a fine ear for harmonic textures enhanced by an effective sense of dynamics.

There were times, however, in that tune and elsewhere, when he couldn’t resist throwing in fiery technical pyrotechnics, often at the cost of his solo’s innate emotional flow.

But the talent is clearly there, and clearly extraordinary.