Jeffrey Kahane and his wife, Martha, knew early on they had a clever son but resisted the temptation to steer little Gabriel toward his father's career.

The elder Kahane, a concert pianist and music director of the Colorado Symphony, was quick to point out that "I've spent my life around musicians, any number of whom had parents that pressured them (into music). It didn't always have a positive impact on them."

Gabriel, now 27, speaks with fondness and appreciation of his parents' decision. "They were hands-off. That way, my becoming a musician was no one's fault but mine."

It turned out pretty well for father and son. Jeffrey watched as his son experimented with various instruments, dabbled in theater and discovered his talents as pianist/composer.

On Thursday in Gates Concert Hall, the two Kahanes will appear on the same bill, as Jeffrey offers a CSO-sponsored piano recital that features the premiere of a brief work by Gabriel, whimsically titled Django: Tiny Variations on a Big Dog.

The two spoke recently from opposite sides of the country: Gabriel from his New York home, Jeffrey from a Los Angeles hotel, where he was preparing concerts with his L.A. Chamber Orchestra. But when it comes to mutual admiration, there is no separation.

"Dad is so supportive," Gabriel said. "Sure, he has a parental prejudice. But he's always been honest with me."

Rather than present the score of Django in person, he sent it via e-mail. The response? "Dad wrote to me, 'I love it!' " Gabriel said.

"We're open to each other," Jeffrey stressed. "He knew I'd be intensely critical. But I knew I'd get something good." He brushed aside a suggestion that he'd hold back any criticism, insisting, "Of course I look at it as a piece of music."

In fact, Jeffrey resisted performing his son's works until the young composer's career was well under way.

"I thought that Gabe was finally at a point where no one would say,'Well, he's on the program because he's Jeffrey Kahane's son.' For this recital, I wanted to present composers I'd be happy playing."

Django is part of a three-part set of contemporary American works. The Denver program features Kenneth Frazelle's Wildflowers. When Jeffrey Kahane performs again at New York's reopened Alice Tully Hall on April 26, he will add a new work by Nico Muhly.

The Kahane/Frazelle pairing is appropriate, since Gabriel studied with Frazelle. "He was my only composition teacher," the younger Kahane said. "It had a great impact on me. Ken used a Socratic approach, rather than get into the nuts and bolts of composition."

Even before he began writing music, the younger Kahane had a commitment to being a creative artist.

"Music was there in fits and starts," Gabriel recalled. "I started on violin when I was 4. Then, at 7, I gravitated to the piano. When I was 13, I discovered my Dad's guitar in the attic, and found that a lot easier than piano. I was around 15 when he gave me a Bill Evans (jazz piano) record."

Studies in jazz piano at the New England Conservatory led to early forays into composition for Gabriel. He attended Brown University, where he studied acting and played a lot of chess. "In my sophomore year, a friend coerced me into writing music for a stage musical."

He's since written piano pieces including a sonata for Natasha Paremski, a song cycle titled Craigslistlieder (using online want-ads as the text), and now finds himself booked for the next two seasons. Nonetheless, Gabriel said, "I haven't thought of myself as a composer until recently."

When the invitation came from his father to write a recital piece, the young composer felt "it was the right moment. Dad even gave me the title - Django: Etude."

That title refers to the family dog, named for the legendary jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. "He's a rescued dog, probably a mix of blue heeler and Australian shepherd," Jeffrey said.

Though barely 5 or 6 minutes long, Gabriel's five Tiny Variations on a Big Dog proved a serious challenge for his father.

"The fourth variation (Mechanized Django) rivals anything I've tried to play," Jeffrey said. "Each hand plays separate, complex meters - and then it switches hands."

Gabriel had been focusing on crafting singer-songwriter tunes when the commissions started flowing in. Reluctantly, he's drifting toward concert music. Pointing to the move away from early witty works such as the Craigslistlieder, he admitted that "you're far more vulnerable when you can't hide behind irony.

"I found that it's really important to minimize composing as an important act," Gabriel said. "At first, I thought that every measure had to be a reinvention of the wheel. Then, I learned that you just have to do it."

Shulgoldm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5296

Jeffrey Kahane

* When and where: 7 p.m. Thursday, Gates Concert Hall, South University Boulevard at Iliff Avenue

* Cost: $35 to $150

* Information: 303-623-7876 or 303-871-7720

* Of note: Kahane plays a piano recital of music by Mendelssohn, Schubert, Kenneth Frazelle, Gabriel Kahane and Rachmaninoff.

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