JAZZ REVIEW : First-Rate Musicians Pack Hampton Fest

Where in the world are you going to find an 83-year-old jazzman playing the vibes, followed by a 10-year-old pianist playing the blues?

That was the course of events Saturday evening when Adam Platt, 10, of Bozeman, Mont., took to the stage after a Lionel Hampton set. It was part of the silver jubilee celebration of what is now officially known as the Lionel Hampton/Chevron Jazz Festival. The four-day extravaganza was packed with world-class musicians, coupled with amateur contests in which 10,000 students from all over the United States and Canada competed for honors--among them the prodigious Platt.

“I’ve never heard anything like him,” said Clint Eastwood, here to receive a Jazz Hall of Fame award.

The festival has had a unique history. In 1968, the one-day event at the University of Idaho presented 15 student groups and just one professional. Since 1984, when Hampton first played here, the conservatory has been renamed the Lionel Hampton School of Music, and the concerts have grown ever larger and more international.

Paquito D’Rivera, the sax man from Havana, served up brilliant Latin-cum-Afro-Cuban music at its most advanced, played with sidemen from the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Spain and the United States.

Canada’s eminent pianist Oliver Jones led the house rhythm section, swinging irresistibly with his trio, and backing up such instrumental guests as Herb Ellis, Herbie Mann, Gerry Mulligan (in fine muscular form) and the roof-shattering Jon Faddis, whose trumpet on “Westend Blues” had 6,000 fans stomping and cheering.

The powerful duo of Lembit Saaisalu, a tenor saxophonist from Estonia, and his regular partner, pianist Leonid Vintskevich from Kursk, Russia, played free-fall originals that took in everything from modal moments to highland flings and plucked piano strings.

Bass virtuosity was everywhere, from Los Angeles’ phenomenal Brian Bromberg, dueting with Hampton’s pianist Kuni Nikami, to Ray Brown, whose trio was a showcase for pianist Gene Harris (Idaho’s own blues master) and Jeff Hamilton, who amazed the crowd by playing the melody of “Caravan” on his drums.

Trumpeter Roy Hargrove, 23, is the first serious challenger to Wynton Marsalis, applying technical finesse to a rapidly maturing and personal style. His quintet was illuminated by the sax flourishes of 22-year-old Antonio Hart.

Among the several singers selected by Hampton to appear, Carmen Lundy came through with flying, cooking colors in a brief set of standards, despite unhelpful backing by Oliver Jones. Dee Daniels, a striking 6-foot-2-inch Vancouver-based vocalist, earned a standing ovation for her offering of soul-fried jazz, first vocally and then at the piano, where she elicited Aretha Franklin gospelisms. Daniels’ scatting was so easy and unforced that Al Jarreau, who followed her, seemed squirrelly and unsatisfying.

As for the ubiquitous “Vibes-President,” there was hardly a set at which Hampton failed to show up. He even joined in with the Hargrove group on a Charlie Parker blues line. Saturday, his big band showed spirit and cohesion, playing a couple of new charts to compensate for the inevitable “Flying Home” observances.

The final evening produced a couple of surprises, including trombonists Al Grey, Mike Grey, Bill Watrous and Jiggs Whigham playing with a band of 40 student trombonists. Also, Lynn Skinner, the university’s professor of music and festival co-producer, offered a graceful tenor sax reading of one of his own ballads.

The glut of talent at Moscow suggests that much could be gained by confining most of the amateur talent to matinees, instead of letting them take evening time away from seasoned pros, many of whom are limited to three tunes apiece.

That aside, the Hampton bash is one of those rare affairs that seemed to have been governed by the producers’ musical tastes rather than by the consuming urge to sell tickets.