Jazz : A Triple Treat: Donegan, Wilson and Reeves at UCLA

A triple treat of jazz music was served up in healthy doses Saturday night by a triple threat of jazz talent at L.A. Jazz ‘90, the third such festival presented by the International Assn. of Jazz Appreciation.

Though the crowd at UCLA’s Royce Hall was small, those in attendance were treated to a pair of legends (Dorothy Donegan, Gerald Wilson) and a legend-in-the-making (Dianne Reeves), each of whom demonstrated his or her crafts with style and originality.

The opening set was provided by Donegan, whose lusty, hard-swinging piano style can turn a ditty like “Tea for Two” into a mainstream jazz masterpiece. At 66, she’s not lost one iota of her drive, spirit or imagination, as she capably demonstrated during a too-short set that included a simple blues that grew into a rollicking boogie-woogie, with enough musical quotes and references to fill an encyclopedia.

Unfortunately, what was lost to the audience was the verbal side of Donegan. Working inexplicably without a microphone, her asides and frequent outbursts didn’t reach past the first few rows.

Reeves, whose range of musical styles is as broad as her vocal range (three and a half octaves), stuck to jazz during a brief set that left the audience wanting for more. Opening with Cole Porter’s “Love for Sale,” Reeves embarked on a seven-minute excursion into the song’s jazz potential, leaving no stone unturned.

Reeves, who was reunited with pianist Billy Childs and bassist Tony Dumas for this event, worked beautifully with the band as they explored a pair of ballads (“Softly as in a Morning Sunrise,” “For All We Know”) and a magnificently rendered “The Nearness of You.” Her closing number, the Max Roach-Abbey Lincoln opus, “Freedom Day,” was a vocal tour de force and a fine showcase for the exceptional drumming talents of Terry Lynn Carrington.

Gerald Wilson, whose Orchestra of the ‘90s was given the closing spot, proved as capable a promoter/instructor as he is a composer/arranger. The septuagenarian Wilson, whose career has spanned most of the history of the music, discomforted with his eagerness to point out his own achievements.

But the music soared and familiar tunes like “Blues for YNA,” “Teri” and “Jenna” showcased not only the leader’s talent but also those of his 17-man orchestra, especially those of trumpeter Oscar Brashear, whose reading of “Carlos” was simply mesmerizing.