Just a brief stop in Bangkok to shift gears–and long enough to drop in at Jazz Happens! a couple more times.

I’ve just started my dinner when the owner, Nu, runs up and calls me by name. Wow, how does he know me? We met once years ago. Maybe I made such an impression last week, playing Take 5, that the staff remembered my name and told him. Or something less spectacular. Anyway, he says I can sit in. The trio sounds fine, but the pianist graciously moves away as I approach and introduce myself.

I don’t know how much these guys know–I favor a repertoire of post-bop tunes that are well-known, but not played much by beginners. So I ask the bass player to call the next tune. He is astonished: a guest soloist never invites the bass player to take the lead this way, But he recovers and asks for Have You Met Miss Jones. This is a perfect warmup. I haven’t played it in years, so it calls forth all my inventiveness, while the rhythm guys are in a comfortable groove.

The effect on the room is electrifying. It’s not that I’m much more experienced than these kids–they are quite proficient technically, and understand the genre quite well. But they live in a relatively small world where almost everyone sounds alike. My variation of textures and phrasing is full of novelties and excitement for them.

We go on to Take the A-Train, and then time for something Latin. I want to play Chega de Saudade but they don’t know it, that’s too risky. So I call Ceora–a lovely, elegant, and seldom-covered tune that sounds great as a piano solo. They don’t know that, either, but I figure it’s easy enough. No problem, and the bass player gets confident enough to take a solo chorus after I’ve done a couple. Happy to share the gift of knowing the little gem.

After my three songs, I’m ready to go, but Nu insists that I stay and play some more. Now we have a vocalist, doing Autumn Leaves. I give her an intro for the key, expecting to let her set the tempo with her pickup line. But–oh, no tempo–she’s starting it rubato. Okay, I like it, but at the end of the vocal chorus we have to get into tempo, and no one is giving a cue as the what that will be. I focus on low-profile clarity, and it works–we slide into an easy groove, just as if we had played together regularly.

I love this scene: it brings out the best in my creativity. I wish there were more like it. Chatting with Nu, we both bemoan the lack of alternative places for jazz jams, anywhere in Thailand. I’ll just have to keep coming back.