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Mr. Jones's next request was Charlie Parker, who fitted into the same category as Tatum -- a virtuosic soloist -- but whose music also qualifies as great small-band music. (Mr. Jones recorded with Bird in the early 1950's.)

I chose ''Ah-Leu-Cha,'' which Mr. Jones said he didn't recognize, from a 1948 recording. ''Perfect control,'' Mr. Jones muttered during Bird's first solo, with its clean, strong sound even through double-time runs. ''He always had that beautiful tone. And he never played extended solos, maybe two choruses, but that would be all you wanted to hear.''

The song banged shut, and Mr. Jones laughed again. ''Bird would play a 32-bar song, and then he'd play a blues, but he always had that same kind of tone,'' he said. ''That's what makes him distinctive. I think his tone is equally distinctive as his style. They go together. Without the tone, the style wouldn't be as impressive.''

What did Parker want from a pianist in his groups? ''He required a pianist to follow the chord changes correctly, and not to overplay but just play in spots,'' Mr. Jones said. ''Bud Powell did that; Al Haig did it. Anyway, if you didn't listen for a while, you wouldn't know what he was doing. You had to listen to find out what direction he was going in, and you played the fills accordingly.

''Working with Charlie was quite an experience. You always heard something that made you think, and think in the idiom that he was playing in. He'd pull you along with him; you couldn't just play your own way. He'd get you used to the idea of getting outside of yourself, because that's what you have to do.''

Racing Against Time

Mr. Jones is one of the few great musicians left from the early bebop era who can comment on what the greatest players were actually thinking about the new music.

''At that time,'' he recalled, ''a lot of musicians put that style down. They didn't like it. You'd think that musicians would be the first ones to pick up on it, but a lot of them didn't -- 'What are these guys doing?' I didn't think that at all. My ears were wide open, my brain was receptive. I thought it was a change for the better, harmonically and melodically. It was a very difficult style to learn to play, and it still is. I don't consider myself a master of the style. I consider myself a student of it.''

When a jazz musician reaches his 60's, the race against time begins. In his mid-80's, Mr. Jones is still racing. ''I know I can do better than I'm doing now,'' he commented, casually, toward the end of our talk.

You really mean that?

''Oh, yeah. There's another level that's reachable. I think it's just a question of time, perhaps, or dedication. I know it's there.''

Do you know what it sounds like?

''What you do is imagine what it should sound like,'' he explained. ''Once, I was working on 52nd Street with the Coleman Hawkins group.'' (Mr. Jones reckoned this was around 1954.) ''In the group was Max Roach, Miles Davis, and Curly Russell was the bass player. I was living up on 101st and Madison, and I used to go to work every night on the bus. On this particular night I was a little bit late.

''When I walked in and started playing, I played something, I played things that I had not played before. It may have been caused by stress; I don't know what caused it. But I was on a different level at that time. That may sound a little screwball, but that's what happened. You can think thoughts you haven't thought previously.

''I think people like Charlie Parker could do it consciously.'' He laughed. ''I've got to do it subconsciously.''

Notes From Friends

The CD's discussed by Hank Jones:

ART TATUM, ''Sweet Lorraine'' from ''20th Century Piano Genius'' (Verve, $22.98).

COUNT BASIE, ''Time Out'' from ''The Complete Decca Recordings'' (Verve, $38.98).

SARAH VAUGHAN, ''Embraceable You'' from ''Sarah Vaughan'' (Verve, $15.98).

CHARLIE PARKER ALL-STARS, ''Ah-Leu-Cha'' from ''Best of the Complete Savoy & Dial Studio Recordings'' (Savoy Jazz, $17.98).

Photos: Hank Jones, above, in Hartwick, N.Y., last month. Left, one of the CD's selected for discussion. Of performing with Parker, Mr. Jones said: ''You couldn't just play your own way. He'd get you used to the idea of getting outside of yourself.'' (Photo by Michael Kenneth Lopez for The New York Times)(pg. E1); Mr. Jones, now 87, still tries to practice two to four hours a day. ''There's another level that's reachable,'' he said. ''I know it's there.'' (Photo by Michael Kenneth Lopez for The New York Times); Hank Jones, shown at top leading his trio in 1996, continues to perform at the highest levels of small-group jazz. Above, the Art Tatum, Count Basie and Sarah Vaughan CD's that feature pieces that drew Mr. Jones's admiration. (Photo by Jack Vartoogian/FrontRowPhotos); (Photographs by Lars Klove for The New York Times)(pg. E18)