For a supergroup, Slow Music is understated and a challenge

Before Slow Music took the El Rey stage Saturday, an elegant silver-haired man emerged and adjusted his keyboards. Few people noticed. Then a slightly older gentleman surfaced stage right. A fan piped up: “Robert?,” prompting his companion to don her glasses for a better look. Everyone else stayed calm.

And so Slow Music’s first Los Angeles show (after a Friday gig in San Juan Capistrano), proceeded with the zero fanfare its members desired. Though some play in platinum rock bands and the rest are art stars, this Zen supergroup operates on modesty.

As far from a chops-brandishing jam session as an oxygen bar is from a juke joint, Slow Music uses rock-pop instrumentation to explore avant-garde ideas. The night’s two long improvisations included shimmering harmonics, minimalist guitar, long builds that recalled Wagner’s Prelude to “Das Rheingold,” and just a whisper of a groove, as six very different innovators let their egos go within serene interplay.

That elegant keyboardist was Bill Rieflin, R.E.M.’s drummer since 2003. The other natty fellow was King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp. The pair devised Slow Music last year to realize Rieflin’s desire to create live ambient soundscapes. They enlisted R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Fred Chalenor, drummer Matt Chamberlain (Tori Amos, Fiona Apple) and electronics master Hector Zazou.

Saturday’s set revealed each player’s biases. Avant-jazz vet Chalenor bowed his acoustic bass and offered tasty runs; Fripp, famous for guitar-electronics hybrids, challenged the more reserved Buck to push the limits of sustain and vibrato. Zazou added effects that worked like weather, shifting the mood. Rieflin, droll and cerebral, subtly steered on keyboards and syn-drum. Chamberlain added his always astounding, playful touch.

These individualists sought a mind-meld wrought from patience and meticulous attention. Listeners too had to abandon habits such as admiring one player or latching onto musical hooks. Slow Music offered a chance to feel music differently -- modestly. The listening wasn’t easy, but it offered subtle, oddly soothing rewards.