B.B. King right at home in House of Blues

Surrounded by a lavishly skilled eight-piece band decked out in tuxedos — a small orchestra of brass, strings, keys, and drums — and tossing guitar picks to the audience like they were so many gold coins before he even played a note, King embodied the part of a beneficent ruler holding court in a castle that probably would not exist without him.

The last time he was here, in winter 2009, teamed with Chicago blues guitar titan Buddy Guy, King delivered a loose, leisurely set as long on conversation as it was on music. Not so Friday night, which was, in contrast, all crisply calibrated business — effervescent, highly entertaining business mind you, but business nonetheless.

Instead of monologues, King let one of his many guitars named “Lucille’’ do a fair amount of talking — and crying, and cooing, and testifying. It preened and pleaded on Lowell Fulson’s “Reconsider Baby,’’ and as if to persuade a lover to stay, King offered a solo whose colorful cluster of notes burst like a rapidly blooming bouquet of flowers, thorns and all.

With its piquantly lewd line about its subject spreading her wings, “Sweet Little Angel’’ wasn’t as innocent as the title or melody suggested when B.B. first recorded it in 1956, or when he performed it on Friday. Likewise, Blind Lemon Jefferson’s affecting “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean,’’ wasn’t nearly as cheerful as the band’s swinging shuffle made it seem. But like all of B.B.’s best songs, a supple groove made the last request a thing of communal comfort.

The sweetly stinging showpiece, “The Thrill Is Gone,’’ provided a trenchant reminder of King’s prowess as a vocalist. His still-silky tenor, tinted in tones of roasted chestnut, was nearly as versatile as his more famous instrument. Also nearly as expressive as his playing — at once polished but pungent, brash and thoughtful, economical yet expansive — was the array of King’s facial expressions. These weren’t studied guitar god poses, but rather a reaction to being lost in the moment, and they reflected the emotional range and humanity that beat at the heart of the music: surprise, wonder, lust, anguish, bliss. All of it, ultimately, the blues.

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