Jazz & Music : Pianist Bill Mays Displays Versatility at the Jazz Bakery

Back briefly in his old Southland stamping grounds (he moved to New York in the mid-’80s), the versatile pianist Bill Mays offered audiences Friday and Saturday at the Jazz Bakery a panoramic view of his keyboard talents.

Though often active in other areas as a composer, a conductor and an accompanist to singers, Mays as a solo recitalist revealed a rare adaptability. If he has no clearly identifiable style of his own, this is well counter-balanced by his gift for conveying the essence of every approach from stride to bop with occasional hard-driving references to the blues.

Much of his repertoire consists of works by other pianists: “Grandpa’s Spells” by Jelly Roll Morton, “Dancers in Love” by Duke Ellington, “Moanin’ ” by Bobby Timmons. These three showed respect for the concepts of their originators; less successful was Thelonious Monk’s “Trinkle Tinkle,” in which he seemed uncertain how to deal with this quirky material. He was in fine form recalling his own 5/4 “Great American Rag,” written for the late Don Ellis.

Mays put his impressive technique to masterful use, though now and then he abused it: The attempt to fuse a Chopin etude with “Body and Soul” was a mite too clever, and his sitar-like plucking and strumming on piano strings on “It Never Entered My Mind” did less than justice to this superior ballad.

Mays ended his Friday show with a surprise, turning vocalist as he sang the witty lyrics to Dexter Gordon’s “Fried Bananas.”

Does this mark the start of a new career? Let’s say that one song per show maximum would do just fine.