Not to sound dramatic, but I learned a little lesson at the Gunter Hampel (left)/Giuseppi Logan gig at Bowery Poetry Club tonight: Namely, don’t privilege a great story over great music.

I had attended the ESP-Disk-sponsored show mainly to hear reed player Logan, whose improbable comeback story I recount briefly in this week’s TONY. Logan’s set was rocky—he seemed reluctant (or just plain unable) to blow for more than a minute or so at a time. Fortunately his sidemen—flügelhorn and bass clarinet player Matt Lavelle, bassist Francois Grillot and drummer Warren Smith—played with grace and patience, filling in the copious empty space. The notes Logan did squeeze out were compelling ones: smeared, almost sobbing. (It was hard not to think of veteran saxist Joe Maneri, who has spent decades perfecting a similarly slurry sound.) But Logan was clearly struggling, and it was probably best that his set lasted only about 20 minutes. An inauspicious reemergence, perhaps, but there was some potent raw material there, and if Logan sticks with it, he might be able to harness the vulnerability of his current sound into something special.

But back to that lesson business.…  So I previewed Logan mainly on the basis of his somewhat sensational prodigal-son story—“Back after decades of homelessness and addiction!”—but neglected to mention that one Gunter Hampel was also appearing at the gig. A highly skilled German multi-instrumentalist who has worked steadily since the late ’50s, Hampel offered a thoroughly outstanding solo turn in tonight’s opening slot. Playing bass clarinet and flute, as well as vibes (sometimes two instruments simultaneously)—and looking like some sort of lanky biker punk in his leather jacket—he was a model of dexterity, soul and concentration. His work on vibes was particularly stellar: swinging, tender, joyous, not to mention dauntingly virtuosic. There was no fanfare or fuss to the set, just that life-affirming feeling you can get only from watching a real improvisational lifer at work. The moral here is a simple one: Yes, there’s a story in Logan’s comeback, but maybe there’s a more compelling one in Hampel’s never having left.