JAZZ REVIEW : Singer’s Lounge Act Puts Jazz on Ropes : Buddy Greco’s Vegas-style demeanor dominates much of show, but now and then his other, more tasteful instincts shine through.

NEWPORT BEACH —  Singer-pianist Buddy Greco, the Las Vegas lounge entertainer, took on Buddy Greco, the swinging jazz artist, in a musical boxing match Sunday at the Cafe Lido.

The decision? It wasn’t even close. The jazz guy got whipped, with Greco’s overly-busy Vegas-style demeanor dominating about 75% of the material. But let’s point out that there there were no knockdowns, and the musician’s tasteful jazz instincts got in more than a few punches.

Fans of Greco, who has been in show business more than 45 years, would not have been surprised with his early-evening Cafe Lido performance. After all, the career of the former Benny Goodman pianist and arranger (1949 to 1952) took off in the mid-’50s with a series of solid-selling vocal recordings such as “The Lady is the Tramp.” He hasn’t looked back since.

But even if jazz isn’t his main squeeze, Greco came up in an era when pop songs were still being written by the master composers of Broadway and Tin Pan Alley and his classy repertoire happily reflects that time. Among the evergreens he offered Sunday: Jerome Kern’s “All the Things You Are” and “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” Cy Coleman’s “She Love Me,” Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s “Bewitched,” and Bobby Troup’s “Route 66.”

Typical of the tunes in which Greco’s jazz side was all but nonexistent were the artist’s signature piece, the closing “MacArthur Park” and the opener, “Almost Like Being in Love.” On these selections, he often adorned his pleasant tenor voice, which at its core resembles Tony Bennett or Vic Damone, with a wide vibrato that obfuscated the inherent musicality of the music and the poetry of the lyrics.

This overbearing quality, which seemed to be Greco’s way of ensuring that he was getting across to the crowd, was sort of like a comedian telling a joke and then asking beseechingly, “Did you get it? Did you get it?”

Then there were the renditions where Greco became less animated and pushy, relaxed his voice, and delivered. Among these were a medley of tunes recorded by Nat King Cole, including, “Route 66” and “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” and a beguiling reading of “Bewitched.”

A number of songs had bits of both approaches. On “She Loves Me,” the leader--who was backed resiliently by reed player Kim Richmond, bassist Kevin Axt and drummer David Tull--showed he could play jazz piano as he offered two solid choruses, exhibiting a natural, swinging fluidity and nice ideas. Similarly, takes of “Misty” and “At Long Last Love” had their jazz moments.

To be fair, Richmond, who was reviewed recently, was responsible for most of the jazz heat. On alto, he exhibited a rosy, warm sound and doled out succinct, be-bop phrases that had a Charlie Parker tinge to them. He also offered a variety of synthesized sounds via his EWI (Electronic Wind Instrument), which resembled a be-bop steam calliope at one point, and a whiny oboe at another.

Greco’s show would benefit if he’d let his jazz personality shine through a bit more. But since the old persona apparently still works for his audience--he received generous applause--it’s doubtful he’ll want to fix it.