A lot of fans might know about the exquisite pianist/vocalist Johnny O'Neal from his support role portraying virtuoso legend Art Tatum in the Academy Award-winning biopic "Ray," about Ray Charles. If you saw O'Neal in that performance, you probably loved it — and that hopefully means you took the next step and actually explored his music.

A career and enthusiastic jazz "lifer" who knows over 1,500 songs as a matter of love and homage, O'Neal is also a helluva lot of fun onstage. No two show are ever alike, and the members of his band — with bassist Mark Lewandowski and drummer Itay Morchi — are similarly gifted and perpetually inspired.

See the Johnny O'Neal Trio Friday in Old Lyme at the Side Door Jazz Club, and expect a bit of material from his 2017 "In the Moment" album.

Johnny O'Neal Trio, 8:30 p.m. Friday, Side Door Jazz Club, 85 Lyme St., Old Lyme; $45; (860) 434-0886.