Jazz master's career riffs on musical contrasts

“It was an accident really,” Trovato said. “I was in a classroom at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, where I was enrolled as a student, and decided to play a country-style song. So I put ‘Yakety Axe' together with another song, ‘Root Beer Rag,' which is actually a Billy Joel tune — I played them both and the owner happened to be giving a tour to two potential students. They walked in while I was playing. When I finished they went back to the office and the students said ‘If you tell us that we can learn to play like that guy, we'll sign up right now!'

“So the owner thought I was a country guitar god and wanted to appoint me as the country music instructor. This was an amazing opportunity, of course, but I hesitated. Then, I consulted [guitar great] Tommy Tedesco and he said, ‘Just say yes. Nobody really knows how to teach it anyway, and all you really have to do is stay one step ahead of the students.'

“That's how I got the country guitar handle, which is fine — but it's not really what I do.”

From there, the longtime Pasadena resident went on to not only teach but also wrote numerous textbooks and instructional manuals. “I've written probably 35 or 40 books for Hale Leonard, Warner Bros. Music,” Trovato explained, “but after all of that I said, ‘Enough! I need to concentrate on playing more.'”

His residency at Lucy's 51 is a fine setting for all that playing, with a set that he says is governed by an “expect-the-unexpected policy.”

“Almost every song is a different style, an entirely different approach,” Trovato explains. “It sounds like a different guitarist up there. I think a lot of people, in this computer age of immediate access and gratification, has reduced the attention span, and I believe that giving people a change of pace where we change the entire mindset every couple of songs, is a very successful way to go.”

Considering the profound depth and impressive breadth of Trovato's subtle, freewheeling talent, that rates as a drastic understatement. “Whenever I get an opportunity, like this job at Lucy's 51, it's about perseverance and determination. I've gone after it with vim and vigor. I don't pussyfoot around. It's in my heart and soul, and yes, I am an aggressive player — I just go after it. I've always done that. I've got a great band, I'm promoting it, hustling it and bringing in a good amount of people. It's a blast, a lot of fun, and I love it. So we just need to get some more folks out and it'll be really be something.”

JONNY WHITESIDE is a veteran music journalist based in Burbank and author of “Ramblin' Rose: the Life & Career of Rose Maddox” and “Cry: the Johnnie Ray Story.”

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Steve Trovato appears at Lucy's 51

Where: 10149 Riverside Drive, Toluca Lake

When: Every Sunday in September, 8 to 11 p.m. Free.

Contact: (818) 763-5200