O’Connor, Rosenberg Trio Dazzle at Grappelli Tribute

Sometimes small really is better. Take the program at the Hollywood Bowl Wednesday night, which was about as minimalist as it ever gets in the giant venue. The usually expansive stage was trimmed to a bare, simple setting, there were no fireworks and the entire concert was performed by only four musicians. Unfortunately, it also attracted a small crowd.

But that was all it took for an entrancing evening of music, all of it dedicated to the late legendary French violinist Stephane Grappelli. And one could hardly have asked for a better set of players to accomplish the task than violinist (although he likes to call himself a fiddle player) Mark O’Connor and the Rosenberg Trio.

O’Connor is one of the most versatile musicians in the world, with a resume that includes country music (with six Grammy nominations and one award), classical music (via appearances with most major orchestras) and compositions (notably his own “Fiddle Concerto,” which has become the country’s most-performed modern violin concerto). Lesser known is the fact that he is a skilled jazz artist, who was mentored by Grappelli from the age of 17.

That association was on proud display in the second half of the program, in which the Rosenberg cousins (with Stochelo on lead guitar, Nonnie on rhythm guitar and Nous’che on bass) accompanied O’Connor in a set of tunes straight out of Grappelli’s classic works with guitarist Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club of France. The format, like the program, was simplicity itself: O’Connor’s lush-toned violin pouring out the melodies of tunes such as “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” “Hold That Tiger” and Reinhardt’s “Nuages” over a carpet of foot-tapping rhythm from the trio.

It was prime stuff, all of it. If O’Connor’s playing didn’t quite have the idiosyncratic mixture of in-the-pocket rhythm and distingue elegance that made Grappelli so unique, it was nonetheless first-rate--improvising with style and substance.

The Rosenbergs, who are based in the Netherlands, opened the show with a set of numbers ranging from “Old Man River” to Chick Corea’s “Spain.” Stochelo Rosenberg’s playing was brilliant, moving easily from Reinhardt-influenced, rapid-fire riffing to a more open-sounding, contemporary style. And the complex, rhythmically intense interplay with his two cousins underscored the mystery of why this extraordinarily talented group is so little known in this country.