Jazz Package

First, balloon-shaped Meade Lux Lewis and Pete Johnson faced each other across grand pianos. Then came Erroll Garner, and finally big Art Tatum, his almost sightless eyes turned to the wall. If Birdland, Manhattan's midtown mecca of jive, wanted to put on a representative "parade" of jazz pianists last week, it could hardly have found four ivory ticklers with more varying styles.

While the "cool" spectators in the bleachers sat on their hands, Lewis & Johnson dished up heated samplings of the rumbling boogie-woogie that they made popular in the '30s. Standout: Honky Tank Train, which 325-lb. Lux Lewis once pounded out with such energy that the piano collapsed into his lap.

Art Tatum, 42, the old master of the swing era, and a pair of smooth-sounding sidemen riffed through Sweet Sue and Sweet Lorraine. His right hand rippled all over the keyboard, but the overall effect was one of sophistication rather than pandemonium.

Garner's "modern" style was not so slick, but he managed to make the others seem dated just the same. He treated happy Birdlanders to big, chunky chords crammed full of notes, then showed them how he could switch to rainbows of glassy melody and fantasy. As he played, he mouthed a word that looked something like "Ooom."

At week's end the piano package seemed to be a first-rate box-office success, and Lewis, Johnson, Garner, Tatum & Co. were planning to take it as far afield as Hawaii this fall.

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