‘CONCERTS BY BAY’ ADDS VARIETY

This year, San Diego’s biggest annual pop-jazz concert series will feature less jazz and more oldies, folk music, country-western and even comedy.

“Our focus has been, and always will be, on jazz,” promoter Kenny Weissberg said about Southland Concerts’ sixth annual “Concerts by the Bay” series at Humphrey’s on Shelter Island, which starts May 15 with two shows by jazz guitarist Lee Ritenour.

“But this year, we’re doing some branching out,” he said. “I think there’s an upscale crowd for every type of music, not just jazz, and since that’s the audience we’re trying to reach, we need to provide them with more variety.”

Of the 20 initial bookings that Weissberg announced Thursday for the five-month, 45-date outdoor series, only 11 feature jazz artists.

These are Ritenour, who opens the outdoor series May 15; the Yellowjackets, a pop-jazz group, May 16; ex-Crusaders guitarist Larry Carlton, May 22; saxophonist Grover Washington Jr., June 12; fusion group Shadowfax, June 14, and pianist Dave Brubeck, July 10.

Also, pop-jazzists Hiroshima, July 26; flugelhornist Chuck Mangione, July 30; fusionists Spyro Gyra, Aug. 15; keyboardist Ramsey Lewis, Sept. 4, and veteran soul singer Ray Charles, Sept. 19.

The nine other dates feature such disparate performers as folk singer Holly Near, May 17; legendary blues guitarist B.B. King, June 21; aging flower child Donovan, June 27; folk singer Judy Collins and acoustic guitarist Leo Kottke, July 3, and comedians Roseanne Barr and Louie Anderson, July 11.

Other non-jazz acts are 1960s duo The Righteous Brothers, July 17; country-western balladeer Emmylou Harris, July 23; country outlaw Waylon Jennings, Aug. 9, and old-time country revivalist Ricky Skaggs, Aug. 27.

Weissberg conceded that his decision to change the schedule came about largely because several shows by newer jazz acts during last year’s season were disappointing at the box office.

“We can no longer rest on our laurels as being exclusively a jazz series,” Weissberg said. “Last year, the people of San Diego did not turn out as they had in previous years to support up-and-coming acts.

“In 1985, we broke such new artists as Whitney Houston, Freddie Jackson, Stanley Jordan and Wynton Marsalis. But in 1986, when we tried to introduce audiences to the likes of Sadao Watanabe, the Generation Band, Montreaux and the Roches, people stayed at home.

“Instead, they turned out to see only the bigger names, like Chuck Mangione and Lee Ritenour. And while I consider this conservative belt-tightening unfortunate, the way to get around it is to concentrate on the better-known jazz acts--and at the same time offer a broader spectrum of big-name entertainment.

“So that’s what we’re doing this year.”