JAZZ REVIEW : Unbalanced Penultimate Program at Bowl

The penultimate program in the “Jazz at the Bowl” series attracted 10,285 fans to the Hollywood Bowl Wednesday, but this was by no means a triumphant occasion. The planning was odd--two pianists in the first half and a slapdash seven-piece band in the second.

Though Dizzy Gillespie’s name was attached to this closing group, it was not his regular ensemble and, despite the presence of several respected artists, the whole was considerably less than the sum of the parts.

Part of the trouble lay in the balance. During the first tune it seemed as though drummer Mickey Roker and bassist Ray Brown were on different planets; moreover, the alto sax of Phil Woods and the microphone never connected.

Conditions improved later when Woods reprised “Goodbye Mr. Evans,” which he had played so exquisitely at last weekend’s Denver jazz party. The rest of the program consisted of Gillespie standards that had their best days (and performances) decades ago. Dizzy might have been better off leading his organized group.

Bobby Hutcherson’s vibraphone and Cedar Walton’s piano were saving graces. Slide Hampton, the left-handed trombonist, contributed a well-defined solo on “Night in Tunisia.”

The evening’s opener, Billy Taylor, pulled a surprise out of his keyboard with a version of “Take the A Train” that sounded like the early morning local; the pace was slow, but the mood was inspired. He was backed by drummer Bobby Thomas, who had the predictable solo workout on “Caravan,” and bassist Victor Gaskin, who once worked with George Shearing. A pleasing note was Taylor’s dedication of Clare Fischer’s “Morning” to the composer, who is recovering from a serious accident.

Shearing, as always, intermingled entertainment and superlative music. He told the inevitable joke, offered a version of “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” a la Ravel and lent his pleasant if tremulous singing voice to “Every Time We Say Goodbye.” He effectively mixed bop and stride in his version of “Donna Lee” (composed not by Charlie Parker, as he announced, but by Miles Davis). The bassist Neil Swainson played this, and Bud Powell’s “Celia,” in impeccable unison with the piano. This, in fact, might have made a better closing act than the ad-hoc band, but maybe that’s not show business.