Playboy Fest Kicks Off Saturday at Bowl

Reviving their splendid collaboration of the late ‘80s, the Manhattan Transfer and the Count Basie Orchestra will join forces Sunday at the Hollywood Bowl for the finale of the 14th annual Playboy Jazz Festival.

The Transfer, which united with the Basie band on the singers’ dynamic “Vocalese” album on Atlantic Records, will do a set on its own before teaming up with the big band, currently led by saxophonist-composer Frank Foster.

Kicking off the festival on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. will be the Latin-jazz band Manteca. Manteca will be followed--in order of appearance and with sets lasting approximately one hour each--by the jazz-fusion band T-Square; pianist Michel Petrucciani; drummer Billy Cobham’s quartet with saxman Ernie Watts; the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra; singer Joe Williams, backed by Clayton-Hamilton; the Playboy Jazz All-Stars with Kenny Burrell, Clark Terry and Jimmy Smith; the jazz-fusion group the Yellowjackets; singer Michael Franks, with the Yellowjackets; and B. B. King. The show will conclude at 11 p.m.

Sunday’s program begins at 2 p.m. with the Hemet High School big band, which is followed in order by drummer T. S. Monk; the Preservation Hall Jazz Band; trumpeter Randy Brecker’s quintet; trumpeter Mario Bauza’s Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra; the New York Jazz Giants, with Tom Harrell, Lew Tabackin, Bobby Watson and Mulgrew Miller; the Count Basie Orchestra; singer Diane Schuur, with Basie; saxman Grover Washington Jr., and the Manhattan Transfer. The show wraps up at 10:30 p.m.

Playboy Addendum: Once again, Bill Cosby will serve as Playboy’s emcee. Don’t expect a lot of chatter from Cos, though. He usually announces the name of an artist, then plops down in a chair at stage right, smokes his cigar and enjoys the proceedings. . . . KPCC (89.3 FM), the NPR affiliate in Pasadena, will broadcast almost the entire festival, with Isabel Holt as host, assisted by Andrew Trent Acosta and Hamilton Cloud. The festival, which via satellite feed is going to about 100 NPR stations around the country, airs on Saturday from 2:15 to 11:15 p.m., and on Sunday from 1:45 to 10 p.m. . . . Caveat Playboy picnickers: The Bowl has announced that carry-in picnic “baggage” cannot exceed 15 inches in height and width, and 22 inches in length. Oversized articles will not be permitted past the ticket gate. . . . A closing thought: Taking the Bowlbus Park & Ride to the festival is a good idea, and a cheap one--$4 round trip from lots in Westwood, Canoga Park, Fullerton and other locations.

Information: (213) 850-2000.

Critic’s Choice: The ten-piece Boston-based Either/Orchestra takes stances, takes chances. On its new “The Calculus of Pleasure” album on Accurate Records, the band, which plays tonight at the Jazz Bakery, might roam respectfully through a familiar favorite such as Benny Golson’s “Whisper Not,” or Horace Silver’s “Ecaroh.” Then, boom, it knocks you back with “Bennie Moten’s Weird Nightmare,” which intermingles the classic “Moten Swing” with horn writing that recalls Mingus and/or Schoenberg. Nice stuff.