Mayer ditches light pop to play some heavy blues

Grammy darling John Mayer could have become the next James Taylor or Jackson Browne of his generation -- a sweet-singing balladeer with timeless appeal to the ladies. Instead, he shocked the pop world this year by switching to the blues and seemingly trying to become the next Stevie Ray Vaughan, with a little Jimi Hendrix and Ray Charles thrown in for good measure.

Mayer held his blues coming-out party before a sold-out crowd at Avalon last night. He proved to be more competent than expected at his new role. And after covering songs by the likes of Hendrix, Charles, and B.B. King, he received a blessing from Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, who jumped up for an encore and said, ''God bless you for loving [this music] the way you do!"

Tyler hung around to wail Sonny Boy Williamson's ''Eyesight to the Blind," which was on Aerosmith's ''Honkin' on Bobo" CD last year. He didn't duet with Mayer, but the crowd had already gotten a fill of Mayer doing such classics as King's ''Everyday I Have the Blues" (which opened night), Hendrix's ''Wait Until Tomorrow," and Charles's ''I Got a Woman" and ''I Don't Need No Doctor." These joined a number of new, blues-drenched Mayer originals such as ''Vultures" (an apparent commentary on the music business) and the uptempo closer, ''Try."

Mayer seemed too gentlemanly to handle some of the bawdier aspects of the blues covers, but he played guitar with a fine disciple's touch. I saw him perform with Bonnie Raitt at the Orpheum two years ago and he came off as a novice bluesman then, but he has since played and/or recorded with King, Buddy Guy, and Eric Clapton and has schooled himself appropriately. He attacked the music with an impressive rhythmic groove this time, though his solos do not yet rival Stevie Ray's.

Mayer advised last night to ''ditch your pop sensibilities." He ditched his until the end when he performed his gushy hit ''Daughters," but he never did his mega-hit, ''Your Body is a Wonderland." He instead exulted in reviving a roadhouse spirit with his new trio (bassist Pino Palladino has played with the Who and Jeff Beck, while drummer Steve Jordan has been with Keith Richards' X-Pensive Winos). These are big-league players and Mayer, while not yet a blues savior, showed that he at least belonged on the same stage with them.