Jim Cullum jazz band pays tribute to Peck Kelly featuring Dick Hyman

by Alan Greenblatt

What is it about intensity in performance that's so appealing? There's a quote in "Adaptation" to the effect that fascination helps narrow the world into a manageable size dominated by what you care about. I thought of that a couple of weeks ago, dancing to Roomful of Blues at the Barns of Wolf Trap.

Here's a band that's been around for more than 30 years, playing loping Texas blues and punchier strains out of Chicago and Kansas City. It's all done well and with obvious affection. But none of it is passionate. They play everything, whether Louis Jordan jump blues or moaning cries out of the Delta, with the same skill and same amount of emotional investment. None of it is felt, or personal, which is why it wasn't terribly satisfying.

That night, the Jim Cullum jazz band played a tribute to the legendary Texas piano player Peck Kelly on their public radio broadcast. Their guest for the show was Dick Hyman, a superb piano player who provides the model (and the fakebooks) for many professional players and puts together the soundtracks for most of Woody Allen's movies.

If you're doing a tribute to Peck Kelly, Hyman's the man to imitate the style. And the same for Fats Waller, etc. Hyman is a superb player with an encyclopedic knowledge of tunes and styles, yet has no recognizable style of his own. I?ve heard him play live and been blown away, yet rarely find myself drawn to buy or play any of his recordings.

Maybe we want our music, like our art, to be so passionate that we can imagine the artist cutting his ear off about it.

That Jim Cullum show, dominated by traditional and Dixieland jazz, is no longer part of WAMU?s Saturday night lineup. It was replaced at 10 pm by ?American Routes,? an excellent program showcasing the types of music Roomful of Blues might play. I haven?t figured out where they?ve banished Jim Cullum.