Cedar Walton (left) and Vincent Herring (right) jam at Dizzy's. Photo credit: Frank Stewart.

Can a jazz group jam without its spark? The Cedar Walton Quartet gave a definite answer at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola (Aug. 7): yes, but with only the momentum of a hand-pushed car— fluid, but never completely reaching a stride.

Playing a mix of jazz standards and tunes from their July release The Bouncer (Highnote Records), the quartet tumbled into the first few numbers with unmistakable fluency, albeit taking a delicate, muted spin off their hard bop style. Walton’s florid piano lightly mingled with bassist David Williams’s underlying hums, providing soft, unassuming accompaniment to the thinly metallic taps shimmying off Willie Jones III’s drum set. Laced with a sing-song, lullaby appeal, “Halo” exuded a timeless and genteel air in perfect keeping with the club’s ultra-sleek design. Saxist Vincent Herring propelled the waltz into a more assertive sound with intermittent slurs of brass. Herring retained a disconnect, however, never truly taking a stronghold on warmth of style.

Williams jumpstarted the quartet’s leap into bolder territory. His solo adaptation of “On the Trail” visibly shifted the club atmosphere into slight tautness, all at attention to Williams’s pregnant, full-bodied bass plucks strummed at varying angles. While the solo weaved in and out of an aural aesthetic, reaching heights of both infectious rhythm and puzzling discordance, Williams evoked a much-needed presence and sense of soul. On sax-adapted jazz standard “Polka Dots and Moonbeams,” Herring carried through the same vibe, at last flourishing to full-bodied, rich charm. His whole-hearted delivery translated into a poignant musical freshness laced with aged romance.

The Cedar Walton Quartet grew into a bit of groove thereafter, tackling “Got to Get to the Island” with both Latin-infused steaminess and a breezy, cruising-the-town ease. Sharp and decadent, the tune saw the tang of Walton’s piano stirred with fizzing cymbal rhythms, though occasionally retreating to the lukewarm feel of past tunes. But regardless of wavering intensity, at the hands of Walton, Jones, Williams, and Herring, jazz took on a classy, easygoing ambience: a laid-back soundtrack perfect for dining and sparse chatter.

NOTE:  Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola offers half-priced student tickets for select artist sets Tuesday through Sunday; Monday night tickets are $10 and all after hours sets are $5.