Johnny O’Neal Trio

Johnny O’Neal pays tribute to his October 10th birthday mates Thelonious Monk, Junior Mance and Harry “Sweets” Edison

If you haven’t caught Johnny O’Neal lately, you really should. The Detroit-born pianist and vocalist, whose fabled history includes a stint as a Jazz Messenger in the ’80s and an appearance as Art Tatum in the 2004 movie Ray, and whose personal health battles appear to be mostly behind him, is hale and confident. Onstage, his attitude is sunny, funny and positive. The 61-year-old fits better these days into the brocaded jackets and hats he often wears, and his well-known command of postbop piano and sense of dynamics are stronger than ever—all energetic leaps and fluid rhythmic shifts, as he laughs and grunts and gasps in mock surprise. Then he’ll close his eyes, downshift the tempo and out comes that blues-soaked voice. With his buoyant personality and an unpredictable set list filled with obscure blues, ballads and more recent popular songs he chooses to ballad-ize—Nat Cole to Donny Hathaway, Chaka Khan to Eubie Blake—it’s a joy to hear. Even when he repeats himself, it never gets old.