Mozartean Beboppers at the Bakery

Experiencing the performance of alto saxophonist Frank Morgan with pianist George Cables’ trio at the Jazz Bakery Tuesday night was a bit like hearing a chamber ensemble perform a Mozart string quartet. Not that there was any similarity in the content, but in the sense that both represent the high-level presentation of a classical form of music.

The bebop period in jazz, like the classical era in concert music, was a time when musicians agreed upon a general schematic framework within which to express their creativity. Morgan and Cables are straight-ahead bebop players who are masters of this classic form--a demanding yet extraordinarily rich approach to improvisation.

As with a Mozart quartet performance, there were no surprises in terms of what was played. The program consisted of what can best be described as bebop standards--”A Night In Tunisia,” “’Round Midnight,” “I’ll Remember April,” the sort of fundamental material from which beboppers crafted their flights of fancy.

The fact that the music was positioned within a familiar framework did not in any way diminish the quality of the invention that took place or the musical imagination from which it flowed. And one of the most appealing aspects of that imagination was the capacity of Morgan and Cables, along with bassist Jeff Littleton and drummer Fritz Wise, to extract something fundamentally appealing from the music’s virtuosic qualities: attractive, on-the-spot melodies.

On “I’ll Remember April,” for example, Cables flowed irresistibly across the keyboard in sweeping phrases. When he dug into a closing blues, his phrasing reached up from the music’s primal roots into a richly swinging interaction with Littleton and Wise.

Morgan’s warm sound and emotion-tinged phrasing were at their best in his set of choruses on “Tunisia.” Maneuvering through the song’s familiar breaks without electing to follow in the classic Charlie Parker pattern, he ventured into his own path, juxtaposing fleet runs and bop-style riffs against high-note shouts and wails.

No surprises, true. But plenty of adventurous improvising within a familiar setting--classic, mid-20th century jazz at its best.

Frank Morgan with the George Cables Trio at the Jazz Bakery, 3233 Helms Ave., Culver City. Tonight through Sunday at 8 and 9:30 p.m. $25. (310) 271-9039.