A night of stylistic versatility

Keyboardist Wayne Horvitz is one of the busiest artists in the increasingly diversified crossover areas surrounding jazz where he works as a composer, arranger, performer and producer. Active in the Seattle music scene, he was also one of the founders, in the mid-’80s, of the New York Composers Orchestra.

On Thursday night, Horvitz brought yet another of his many musical projects to Rocco’s. The ensemble -- named Zony Mash after a Meters song -- consisted of Horvitz on piano and organ, Timothy Young on guitar, Keith Lowe on bass and Andy Roth on drums. Much of the music, all of it offered without announcement or identification, was drawn from the band’s latest album, “Live in Seattle.”

Horvitz’s diverse compositions ranged from jam-band-like jump music to a number based on an arching melody line reminiscent of Lennie Tristano, from funk-filled groove rhythms to -- unexpectedly -- a pastoral piece rich with lush, impressionistic dissonances.

Zony Mash is not a band of virtuosic soloists. In brief improvisational forays, each member executed ideas with craftsman-like skill. But their most valuable assets traced to the colorful range of stylistic notions within Horvitz’s compositions, combined with the smoothly integrated, ensemble manner in which they were performed.

The Zony Mash program, which was to be repeated Friday with the addition of singer-composer Robin Holcomb, was one of a growing number of cutting-edge performances place at Rocco’s, which has been temporarily relocated (because of construction work) to the Lillian Theatre, 1076 N. Lillian Way. The appearance of saxophonist Steve Coleman on Tuesday and Wednesday brings one of Manhattan’s most important jazz avant-garde artists to the Southland for a rare local concert.