JAZZ REVIEW : SARAH, JOE, BASIE BAND IN TOP FORM

There was a near-capacity crowd at the Wilshire Theater Thursday, and the forecast indicated golden box-office weather for the entire four-day run (including two shows Sunday) by Sarah Vaughan, Joe Williams and the Count Basie Orchestra.

It figures. With attractions of this caliber, it would have been as hard to arrange a financial disaster as to put on a mediocre show.

That Vaughan received top billing was predictable; that her performance took up the entire second half, and that nobody acted on the logical idea of having her sing a duet with Williams for a finale, was questionable. Still, she was in superb form, from the opening “Fascinating Rhythm” to a surprise encore for which she accompanied herself, excellently, at the piano.

The songs that rang truest were those where the variations were fewest. “Here’s That Rainy Day,” completely devoid of tricks, was a flawless gem. Her treatment of Billy Strayhorn’s “Chelsea Bridge” was guaranteed to affect all but the most shiver-proof of spines.

Singing what she called “the man’s part” on “Misty,” she reached for low notes that Michael Jackson could only dream of.

There were also the predictable scat outings, and an overdramatized “If You Could See Me Now,” during which her use of melisma (she broke the word you into about 11 notes) drew applause.

Frank Foster led the Basie juggernaut through a 25-minute instrumental set that displayed all its collective and individual virtues. Middle-aged men who joined the band in the 1950s sat side by side with gifted youths who entered the ranks a few years ago.

The Basie set ended with a splendid “Jumpin’ at the Woodside” spotlighting Foster, Eric Dixon and Kenny Hing on tenor saxes.

Williams sang Jimmy Rushing blues and Memphis Slim blues and Joe Turner blues; he sang blues ballads and, in a needed reminder of his expertise in the art of ballad singing, offered a warm and virile treatment of the 1954 song “Young and Foolish.” To complete the beauty of this item, there was an arrangement by Johnny Pate and a trumpet solo by Bob Ojeda.

That Williams is a nonpareil blues singer has been a given for 30 years. That nobody can outsing him on a tune like “Young and Foolish” is a fact that should be much more widely known.