May 14 (Bloomberg) -- Catalan chef Isma Prados thinks whipping up a plate of roasted pork belly has a lot in common with playing jazz.

“Your real gift as a cook is about the moment and timing,” said the baby-faced Prados, 34, a part-time drummer who slips on a white chef’s jacket in restaurateur Danny Meyer’s Jazz Standard night club during an interview. “Music and cooking are both creative expressions in real time.”

Prados is one of Spain’s rising culinary stars in a galaxy rich with legends such as Michelin three-star perennial Ferran Adria of El Bulli fame. He’s part of the club’s first fusion of jazz and food, the “Catalan Days-Barcelona Nights” festival, starting tonight and running through May 17.

The idea was born last year when Seth Abramson, the jazz club’s artistic director, attended the Barcelona Jazz Festival year and met Prados. The country’s vibrant community of jazz musicians and its world-class cuisine inspired Abramson to create a partnership with the region.

The inaugural event’s producers are the Jazz Standard, the Voll-Damm Barcelona International Jazz Festival and the Institut Ramon Llull, a Catalan cultural organization that helped bring the Spanish jazz groups to New York.

Prados will add a Spanish flavor to the kitchen of Meyer’s Standard, located downstairs from Blue Smoke, which is known for its Memphis-style ribs, Texas beef and addictive macaroni and cheese.

A specialist in traditional Catalan food who learned his craft at Casa Fonda Europa in Granollers, Spain, and Barcelona’s Hotel Majestic, Prados will offer a tasting menu priced at $39.95 per person and served tapas-style through Sunday. (The Standard’s menu crafted by executive chef Kenny Callaghan will still be offered.)

Cod, Pork Belly

The first course is a plate of black salt cod and sauteed mushrooms, followed by the roasted pork belly confit with shrimp tails over Ganxet beans (common in northeast Spain). The third course is paella with roasted duck and eel, and then slow-cooked beef cheeks and roasted vegetables.

The final number is a thin layer of sweet coca with a topping of fresh sheep’s milk cheese, egg yolks and fresh mint.

“All of the products I use are completely natural,” Prados said. “I buy every animal I cook with the head attached.”

A highlight of the musical fare is Grammy Award-nominee Chano Dominguez, who will make a rare appearance Saturday night with a quartet that includes the fleet-footed dancer Tomasito. Dominguez, one of Spain’s most celebrated pianists, is credited with fusing jazz and flamenco. Barcelona-born bassist Alexis Cuadrado, who now lives in New York, will play with his group after Dominguez’s two sets.

Last night, Catalan saxophonist Llibert Fortuny, one of Spain’s best-selling jazz artists, took the stage backed by Gary Willis on electric bass and David Gomez on drums. Pianist Agusti Fernandez, bassist Barry Guy and drummer Ramon Lopez, known for their avant-garde work, perform tonight.

The OAM Trio, made up of Catalan drummer Marc Miralta, double bassist Omer Avital from Israel and U.S.-born pianist Aaron Goldberg, play three sets Friday night.

Composer and pianist Jordi Rossy’s trio wraps up the festival Sunday night.

“You have this interesting relationship where musicians from the U.S. are going to Barcelona, and artists from Barcelona are going to New York,” Joan Cararach, the producer of the Barcelona Jazz Festival, said in an interview. “Jazz is going global. It’s not only the music of America, it’s the music of the world.”

“Catalan Days/Barcelona Nights Jazz and Food from Catalonia and the Balearic Islands” at the Jazz Standard, 116 E. 27th St. in Manhattan through May 17. Information and schedule: +1-212-576-2232; http://www.jazzstandard.net/red/index.html.

(Patrick Cole is a reporter for Bloomberg News. Any opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer on this story: Patrick Cole in New York at pcole3@Bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 14, 2009 00:01 EDT