CONCERT AT BOWL : SAMMY DAVIS JR.: NOTHING BUT TALENT

As many of his 13,194 fans may have observed Wednesday night at Hollywood Bowl, Sammy Davis Jr. at 60 is a new and mellower man.

He gave the impression of having put some of the specious humility and show-biz bravado behind him. At one point he even admitted it: “I cut out the theatricality.” What’s left is the talent, the formidable dimensions of which have seldom been more brilliantly in evidence, outshining even the rings on his fingers. Explaining that he would be singing standards because he doesn’t relate to the now music, he added: “For those of you who came here for heavy metal, I’m wearing it.”

During the opening set by the Buddy Rich band (reviewed here last month at Disneyland) Davis put in a token appearance “just so you won’t be able to go home and say we never did anything together.” It didn’t work too well, opening with “Ding Dong, The Witch Is Dead,” a song by which Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg will never be remembered, but picking up somewhat with the much later and superior “Come Back to Me” by Burton Lane and Alan Jay Lerner.

Whatever it is that Davis has been doing, or not doing, to keep in shape, his voice was the better for it. As is his wont, he struck a balance during his own set between jazz material and the more theatrical items. Only occasionally, as in “For Once in My Life,” was there too much exertion on everyone’s part. More often there was discretion, as on “All the Things You Are,” which he began by singing the bridge, with the rhythm section later adding a light Latin beat.

“Satin Doll” was backed for the most part simply by his bassist, James Leary. Later came a series of tunes--the verse of “Night and Day” and the chorus of “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” among others--for which his drummer, Clayton Cameron, provided the only accompaniment.

Everything worked, because of the ease and control with which Davis himself worked. His final “love” on “You’re Gonna Love Me” must have been held for 15 seconds, the intonation never flagging. On a couple of numbers there were some unself-conscious scatting. For “By Myself” he slipped into tap shoes, drumming out a chorus with eloquent feet.

There were touches of the predictable nostalgia. “Mr. Bojangles” took you back, not to the Apollo so much as to the old Palace on Broadway, almost to the Will Mastin Trio.

Davis had plenty of help when it was needed: The horns of the Rich orchestra, his own rhythm section, and a string section 15 strong, all under the baton of Fip Ricard. The capable Ricard replaced the late George Rhodes, Davis’ conductor for 30 years who died last December. For his closer, Davis dedicated Frank Loesser’s “My Heart Is So Full of You” to Rhodes’ memory.

As the concert ended, after an ovation that seemed to require an encore, Davis neatly evaded it. “There’ll always be someone out there who’ll say, ‘He was good until that last number.’ So thank you, and good night.” It was the perfect ending to a delightful evening.