JAZZ REVIEWS : ‘JAZZ EXPLOSION’

The first show of Saturday’s two-show “Jazz Explosion” at the Beverly Theatre was a rough one for headliner Angela Bofill. Making her first local appearance in three years, the pop/soul/smidgen-of-jazz songstress did her darndest to ignite the packed house, but everything from her timing to her voice was just slightly off the mark.

Backed by the group Pieces of a Dream, Bofill’s five-song set got off to a rocky start as she interspersed her hit, “This Time I’ll Be Sweeter,” with deadpan, semi-comic banter and a rollicking gospel passage, which turned this tale of remorse into a kind of farce. Here and on other tunes, like “Good Morning Heartache,” she peaked anti-climatically and seemed to have trouble nailing her high notes, which used to be her trademark.

Fate was much kinder to bassist Stanley Clarke, who could do no wrong. Dressed in a dark suit, white shirt with no tie and dark glasses, Clarke knew just what the crowd wanted and when he waded into the audience while playing his funky opener, he received the first of a brace of standing ovations. Throughout his set, where he was also backed by Pieces of a Dream, he popped notes with his thumb and slapped them with his hand, and displayed his formidable technique with blistering lines. It was good fun but of rather questionable musical value.

The indefatigable Pieces of a Dream opened both halves of the concert that was long on funk and soul and short of what used to be known as jazz.