JEFF HAMILTON TRIO, Sheraton City Centre, Monday

Any time the GAM Foundation announces the Jeff Hamilton Trio as part of a season lineup, patrons talk about it on nights before and after the show.

On Monday the trio lived up to its own hype and played two sets that will keep tongues wagging until the next time they show up in Salt Lake City.

The feeling seems mutual as Hamilton called the jazz series "one of the greatest audiences for jazz in the world" and indicated the band always looks forward to coming to Salt Lake City, but he laughed, indicating he says the same thing every night.

But it was the playing that spoke most earnestly as Hamilton was joined by former Utahn Christoph Luty (with many fans in attendance) and pianist Tamir Hendelman.

All were dressed for work in upscale suits and ties, and when the song started they meant serious business.

"This better be good, fellas," Hamilton said after a raucous welcome and just before opening with Frank Sinatra's "You Make Me Feel So Young." The song featured some nimble piano scaling with a little room for Luty to work as well, but it was immediately clear why Hamilton's playing is so loved.

He is one of the most expressive drummers in jazz, and his live performances allows a clearer vision of the subtleties with which he dissects a song. In the second number, "Day By Day," he was as fast as the wheels of a locomotive but still found room to drop in not only interesting percussion but brush work, scratches, caresses and cymbal grazing that also sound like sighs at times.

His technical work is so solid and smooth that it is completely second nature, allowing him to get intricate and even emotional on a simple drum kit. He demonstrated that the setup is insignificant at the hands and feet of a master.

He used precise spots on every inch of the drums and all parts of the cymbals, from the edge to the bell and even the nut to nail exactly the sound he wants while using both ends of the brush, his fingers and even a ring on his left hand.

They slowed things down with a wonderful melancholy arrangement of "Symbiosis," which served as the love theme in the film "Sideways." Luty added emotional resonance with bow work on his upright bass, and while the ear is irresistibly drawn to the piano in such numbers, Hamilton made his kit sing and more than held his own.

They burned through two sets with numbers like "Midnight Sun," "Polka Dots and Rainbows," a wonderful bass-heavy number, "Blues in the Night," and "Someone in Love." The audience was marveling and already looking forward to the trio's return.

E-mail: lc@desnews.com