Werner and Pasqua in Tandem

The second installment in the Jazz Bakery’s continuing series of live piano duo recordings kicked off Tuesday night with the first of a three-night series of performances featuring Kenny Werner and Alan Pasqua.

Neither is a particularly high-visibility player. Werner has worked in an extremely wide variety of settings (from jazz with Archie Shepp and Bob Brookmeyer to vocal accompaniment with Betty Buckley). But he may be best known, at the moment, for his 1997 book, “Effortless Mastery,” an innovative approach to the process of making music. Pasqua is equally diverse, with a background that includes film, television and commercials, as well as recordings with everyone from the Doobie Brothers and Aretha Franklin to Jack DeJohnette and Michael Brecker.

The question confronting both players as they approached the large pair of concert grands overlapping each other on the Bakery stage was how to integrate their multiple stylistic capabilities into a joint performance.

The intention, for these duo piano recordings, is to see what kind of sparks can be ignited when two talented artists confront each other in an improvisational setting. The problem is that each player has the full tonal, rhythmic and melodic panoply of a grand piano at his disposal.

Given all this firepower, it is inevitable, even in the most spontaneous musical environment, that one of the pianists has to take the lead. Ideally, the lead shifts back and forth. But in this case, it was mostly Werner--a somewhat more outgoing player--who tended to set the patterns that controlled the musical flow.

Which generally worked well. In pieces such as “Autumn Leaves” and “My Foolish Heart,” Werner’s buoyant energies usually set the stage for Pasqua to slip through with thoughtfully lyrical soloing. And when this contrast was present, the juxtaposition of musical attitudes beautifully defined duo piano jazz improvisation.

But there also were moments, perhaps the result of opening night uncertainties, in which there was too much stylistic similarity, too many notes played at the same time and the distinct feeling of cluttered, musical overkill. More time working in tandem--Werner and Pasqua had never appeared together before--will result, one hopes, in a better blend of sounds and silences.

BE THERE

Kenny Werner and Alan Pasqua at the Jazz Bakery, tonight at 8 and 9:30 in a live recording session. 3233 Helms Ave., Culver City. (310) 271-9039. $18 admission.