WE ALL LAUGHED when Gini Wilson sat down at the piano on Thursday night on the stage at the Larkspur Cafe Theater; had we not, the legendary Wilson would have been dismayed. Wilson, as many know, is not just an outstanding and versatile solo saloon pianist - she's also a witty entertainer who has managed to remain a lively personality in a frequently dreary, anonymous occupation.In Larkspur on Thursday and Sunday evenings through October she is presenting "From Bach to Bebop an Elegant Evening of Jazz and Wisecracks." For more than 30 years, Wilson, known as "The Duchess," has been working the nightclub/saloon/supper-club/restaurant and special events circuit as a pianist, often daring to be an entertainer as well. In recent years, she has played long stints at Moose's, One Market, Stars and the Fairmont Hotel and she often performs on NPR's "West Coast Live."... "Over the years, she has expanded her repertoire to include solo interpretations of works by Thelonious Monk, Frédéric Chopin, Astor Piazzolla, Fats Waller, J.S. Bach, Scott Joplin, Bill Evans and dozens of other composers drawn from all styles and eras of music. Wilson's informal "Bach to Bebop" presentation, within which she is joined by her longtime bassist and musical companion Paul Breslin, is what she calls an interactive showcase. Not only is the music interactive (blending themes by Erik Satie with jazz composer Eddie Durham's "Topsy," for instance) but so is her show. She works her listeners into the program, persuading a non-pianist from the audience to join her in playing Pachelbel's Canon four-handed. And she has the listeners participate in creating a song and song title based on three notes. On the latter, we ended up with the notes, E, C and G, and Wilson did a marvelous job in creating a composition for us; we, she and Breslin had a lot of fun. In this sequence I was reminded both of Victor Borge and (way back) of the popular blind English pianist Alec Templeton. Wilson launched into a Bach-like fugue that gradually became "Autumn Leaves" a favorite device of another blind English pianist, George Shearing; and on a Piazzolla tango, she removed the long-stem rose from her lips and switched for a time from the piano to the keyboard of a mouth-accordion. She blended Monk figures into "My Way," and at the suggestion of an audience participant, played Chopin in Little Richard's style; and Mozart à la Fats Waller. Good-time music, remarkably well done; later she played Waller's "Black and Blue" quite beautifully, and handled a hot boogie-woogie selection with astonishing competence."

"Jazz (and boogie-woogie and classical music) is alive and fizzing this month in Larkspur, California. Gini Wilson, known by her fans as The Duchess, has a month long gig at the Larkspur Cafe Theatre, and you'll kick yourself later if you miss it. From Bach to Bebop showcases her genre-jumping piano skills and irreverent wit. Dubbed "chamber jazz," the program includes an entertaining mix (sometimes even in the same tune) of Bach, Fats Waller, Bill Evans, Bobby Hutcherson and other jazz greats. During this interactive evening, audience members learn that they too can play Pachelbel, write a New Age Hit and try to stump the Duchess at her favorite game, "In the Style of ..." (for instance, playing Beethoven in the Style of Count Basie). There's also plenty of kidding around ("ladies and gentlemen, oxygen masks will drop from the overhead compartment if the jokes become too thin"). Paul Breslin provides wonderful accompaniment on bass. "