JOSHUA BELL TO ENTER BOWL HALL OF FAME.

Byline: David Mermelstein Correspondent

With his all-American looks and undemonstrative manner, violinist Joshua Bell neither appears to be nor presents himself as a trailblazer. But he is one just the same, even if he won't admit it.

And Friday night, both qualities - the personal reticence and the innovative artistry - will be honored, when Bell, 37, is inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame. Already an ``Indiana Living Legend'' - he hails from Bloomington - the violinist is a Grammy winner and was the featured soloist on the Oscar-winning soundtrack to ``The Red Violin.''

Bell's reaction to the Bowl accolade is typically self-effacing. ``It's a little bit strange,'' he says by telephone from Porto, Portugal, where he was performing last week. ``I don't feel old enough. But it's certainly an honor, and I've been enough times.''

He's not kidding about putting in the time. He first played the Bowl in the mid-1980s, and has returned regularly. The commitment is characteristic of his work ethic in general: He says he plays about 120 concerts a year and is on the road roughly 200 days annually.

But though Bell is grateful for the Bowl honor - part concert, part manufactured media event - his Midwestern levelheadedness keeps him from taking it too seriously. ``Josh Groban will induct me, I think,'' says Bell, none too certainly, adding, ``I ran into John Mauceri the other day at an airport, and he said he was conducting.''

In addition to accompanying Groban in a song at the event, Bell will play Camille Saint-Saens' Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, one of the showpieces for violin and orchestra on which he has built his career.

Though no artist earns solely good reviews, Bell has consistently been praised by critics for both his technical and poetic gifts. Typical was a reaction by Anthony Tommasini in The New York Times last year, when Bell played Mozart's ``Turkish'' concerto: ``Sumptuous sound, rhapsodic fervor and resourceful technique, all trademarks of his artistry,'' wrote the critic.

Bell's aversion to hype is another plus. His presence on the international music scene comes from steady, nurtured growth. He's earned his place on his own merits, not by record-industry fiat or the machinations of high-powered PR firms. Nor has the corn-fed violinist ever traded on his good looks by striking provocative poses for album covers or magazine spreads.

Not that he's publicity shy. Bell has made People's 50 Most Beautiful list, been featured in Elle magazine and continues to show up in various publications under headlines like ``Making Classical Music Cool.'' But ``selling out'' hasn't gotten him that coverage. Expanding his range as an artist while never losing sight of what brought him fame in the first place has.

In addition to touring and recording, Bell has in recent years undertaken projects that might be called crossover, the dreaded term often applied to such mismatches as, say, Placido Domingo singing ``Over the Rainbow.''

But Bell's choices have been wiser, coupling imagination with good taste. The trend began when Bell left London/Decca, his longtime record label, for Sony Classical in 1996. The change brought him into contact with Peter Gelb, a classical record executive known for his bold attempts to broaden the canvas of his artists.

For a musician who had been devoted to the standard repertory, even an-all Gershwin album, Bell's first Sony CD, was a stretch. Then came the soundtrack to the movie ``The Red Violin'' (1999), with music by John Corigliano written especially for Bell. Corigliano won an Oscar for his efforts and then crafted themes from the score into a full-blown concerto for Bell, who subsequently took the piece to concert halls throughout the world.

``I was spoiled by that,'' admits the violinist, who has gone on to play on the soundtracks for other movies, including ``Iris'' (2002) and the recently released ``Ladies in Lavender,'' all of them art films earning Bell critical praise.

A bigger shock occurred when Bell joined forces with bassist Edgar Meyer for ``Short Trip Home'' (1999), one of a series of records that paired classical artists with folk musicians to surprisingly good effect. The violinist calls it ``the most crossover project I've done.'' And a record from 2001 in which themes from Leonard Bernstein's ``West Side Story'' were reworked into fantasies for violin and orchestra proved a crossover hit, though Bell, for one, says, ``I don't consider that crossover.'' On the other hand, performing on ``Closer,'' Josh Groban's 2003 album ``is definitely crossover.''

Yet Bell has hardly forsaken tradition, recording warhorse concertos by Goldmark, Sibelius, Beethoven and Mendelssohn for Sony. For his one foray into the esoteric world of contemporary classical music, a concerto written for him by English composer Nicholas Maw, Bell was rewarded with a Grammy. And Bell's ``Romance of the Violin'' disc, released in October 2003, was No. 1 on the Billboard classical chart for 12 weeks; now 20 months later, it occupies the No. 6 spot.

His latest album, his second recording of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, pairs him with Michael Tilson Thomas conducting the Berlin Philharmonic. Already released in Germany, it will be available in America on Sept. 20.

Given his peripatetic schedule, Bell tends to content himself with solitary pleasures. ``Eating out at restaurants is probably my No. 1 hobby,'' he volunteers. When on the road, he says he favors reading over watching TV. His widely reported enthusiasm for video games appears to have been replaced by a more mature obsession - DVDs. ``Right now I'm really into 'Arrested Development,' '' he says, referring to the quirky Fox TV series that has become a hit on video.

The violinist has always enjoyed sports as well, which is not the norm in a profession where one's hands are especially prized. ``I like playing tennis and golf,'' he says, ``when I can find the time.''

Finding time is also an issue for an even greater priority. Bell says he someday wants to raise a family. Yet he remains a busy bachelor artist reluctant to slow down. ``I am trying to take it a little easier,'' he says. ``The problem with being a musician is that you're eternally youthful in the way you think about everything. You have to be - the music requires it.''

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