JAZZ REVIEWS : TRIPLE TREAT--AN UNDERSTATEMENT

Triple Treat, the name of the group that opened Thursday and closes Sunday at the Loa, on Pico Boulevard near Centinela Avenue, sounds like a somewhat boastful title. However, it takes only a brief sampling of this trio’s work to establish that, if anything, it may be an understatement.

The personnel in itself is a virtual guarantee of quality. For several years the guitarist Herb Ellis and the bassist Ray Brown were two-thirds of the Oscar Peterson Trio. Their long-shared experience led to a mutual sensitivity that is tantamount to ESP.

The pianist in the current unit is Monty Alexander, the West Indian-born virtuoso who himself displays touches of Peterson flash, though his style is more chameleonic. When he plays an old Nat (King) Cole song such as “Straighten Up and Fly Right,” a hint of Cole’s keyboard incisiveness may be detected. In his own composition “Renewal” he transcended all barriers, reaching from a melodramatic solo opening to a long trio passage in which he interacted buoyantly with his colleagues.

The talent in Triple Treat is displayed in a repertoire that offers each member a chance to shine. “It Might as Well Be Spring” gave Brown an opportunity to show yet again that as a past master of the instrument in solo and rhythm modes alike, he has, so to speak, both basses covered.

Ellis was in his elegant element playing his own standard ballad, “Detour Ahead.” The surprise of the evening was the appearance of John Frigo, who collaborated with Ellis on that song. A veteran Chicago-based musician, Frigo astonished the crowd with some of the most impressive violin jazz this side of Stephane Grappelli, hard swinging on “I’ll Remember April,” poignant and subtle on “Too Late Now.”

Frigo had to return to Chicago today, but those who missed him can take comfort in the knowledge that Friday’s music was taped for an album and video.