POP MUSIC REVIEWS : Bacharach Provides Rare Bright Spot at Songwriter Bash

The National Academy of Songwriters’ ninth annual “Salute to the American Songwriter” delivered considerably less than it promised at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre on Friday.

Among other things, the songwriting team Gamble & Huff canceled its appearance due to Kenny Gamble’s illness, and Rickie Lee Jones simply never arrived on stage.

Given the generally excellent quality of past salutes, the absences shouldn’t have made a difference. But aside from one or two major highlights, this was not an evening that had very much going for it--with or without Gamble & Huff and Jones.

Paul Williams made a gallant effort to add some pacing and humor to the proceedings, but even Williams’ whimsy seemed wasted on a generally unresponsive crowd and a show possessing few memorable moments.

After a parade of musically unremarkable tunes and tunesmiths, the concert came to life, briefly but brilliantly, with a performance by Burt Bacharach.

Wasting no time with the kind of preliminary remarks that had been dragging the show to a slow grind, Bacharach produced a breathtaking rendering of his and Hal David’s standard “Alfie.” In three understated minutes, he defined what was missing in so many of the songs heard on the program--a skillful blending of multileveled, emotionally rich lyrics with expressive, illuminating music.

The evening climaxed with lifetime achievement awards to David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash. With Crosby still recovering from a liver transplant, Stills and Nash graciously accepted the awards before concluding what was beginning to feel like an interminable event with a sing-along version of “Teach Your Children.”