Patton, Keys Find a Berth for the Blues

It took most of the opening set for Big John Patton and Calvin Keys to get their blues groove going Thursday night at the Jazz Bakery. But when they did, the foot-tapping, body-moving rhythms that emerged were virtually irresistible.

Appropriately, the set was dedicated almost entirely to blues numbers of one sort or another, ranging from a waltz time original that was little more than a paraphrase of Miles Davis’ “All Blues” to the shuffle rhythms of “Funky Mama,” a soul jazz special dating to Patton’s musical alliance with Lou Donaldson.

It wasn’t clear why the combination of Patton, Keys and drummer Sherman Ferguson took so long to jell. But there were moments, especially in the first tune or two, that felt more like a let’s-get-it together rehearsal than a performance.

At 65, however, Patton has been around far too long to allow a set to get out of hand. A busy recording artist since the early ‘60s, he never quite generated the visibility of a Jimmy Smith or a Richard “Groove” Holmes, despite a similar capacity to generate roaring waves of soul-drenched sound from his Hammond B-3 organ. And when this particular performance seemed on the verge of failing to find its edge, he dipped into his collection of skills, metaphorically picking up the proceedings and driving them forward, with his bursting organ explosions and propulsive rhythms serving as the high-voltage engine.

Keys, also a too-little acknowledged artist, was an effective counterfoil. Working with a powerful, ebullient organist can be an intimidating experience for any guitarist. But after the uncertainties of the opening pieces, Keys found a groove that allowed him to be supportive in his riffing contributions to the ensemble passages and consistently engaging in his harmonically supple solos. A ballad rendering of “I Can’t Get Started” triggered a beautiful stroll through the shifting chord changes, and his interaction with Patton and Ferguson on “Funky Mama,” the final tune, was pure roadhouse blues.

One kept thinking, in fact, that this was music that didn’t quite sound at home in the relatively sterile theater-style Bakery, light years away from its more natural environment of smoking, drinking and dancing. Of course, the classic, haze-filled jazz club milieu no longer exists in smoke-free California, and it was to Patton’s credit that--despite the cool, clear setting--he could still manage to call up heated echoes of the soul jazz past.

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Big John Patton, Calvin Keys and Sherman Ferguson at the Jazz Bakery, 3233 Helms Ave. Tonight and Sunday at 8 and 9:30 p.m., $22 admission. (310) 271-9039.