Cables wears his own hat

PIANIST George Cables has often spoken of the “putting on a different hat” aspect of his career as a superbly adaptable player whose colorful musical journey has included gigs with collaborators from Sonny Rollins and Freddie Hubbard to Dexter Gordon and Art Pepper, with many other stops in between.

A consummate accompanist with a chameleon-like musical capacity to adapt to differing players and styles, Cables has worked in a kind of creative anonymity that’s brought him a lot of admiration but not nearly enough acknowledgement of his abilities as a unique jazz artist.

His performance Tuesday at Vibrato Grill Jazz ... etc. in Bel-Air -- one of his relatively rare local appearances in recent years -- was a tempting display of how much Cables, 61, has to say. The set began in fairly laid-back fashion, with Cables, bassist Pat Senatore and drummer Ralph Penland beginning to establish musical connections in a modest rendering of the Sammy Cahn/Paul Weston/Axel Stordahl standard “I Should Care.”

Momentum built slowly over the next few tunes, all Cables originals. It wasn’t until his “Mr. Baggy Pants” that the energy level kicked up and Cables’ crisply articulated, bebop-tinged lines began to take flight. A pair of jazz standards -- Blue Mitchell’s “Fungi Mama” and Sonny Rollins’ “Doxy” -- opened the improvisational flow even more, with Senatore’s propulsive lines and Penland’s surging rhythms providing the liftoff power.

In contrast, the set’s most touching moment came with the unjazz-like Carole King/Gerry Goffin pop hit, “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?,” which Cables dedicated to pianist John Hicks, who died last week at 65. Like Cables, Hicks was a fine soloist often disguised in accompanist’s clothes. And the dedication was rendered with airy lyricism, with the sort of deceptive simplicity that transcends multi-note displays and reaches into the heart of a song.

In those passages, as well as the soaring bop tunes, one couldn’t help but wonder when the jazz audience will fully discover Cables, and when he might begin to spend more time simply wearing his own hat.