Talented, Eclectic Acts Shine in 20th Watts Towers Festival

Six bands representing a wide spectrum of musical styles made Sunday’s 20th anniversary of the Simon Rodia Watts Towers Jazz Festival the most diverse, consistently pleasing Watts festival in recent memory.

The groups ranged from a nine-piece improvisational ensemble with tuba and bass clarinet to an octet with five trombones to a free-thinking electric band whose leader played trumpet through a wah-wah pedal. All gave first-rate, well-received performances.

Though crowds appeared slightly smaller than in recent years, with an audience of more than 500 in and around the open-air concert tent and hundreds more wandering among nearby merchants, craftspeople and food vendors, the turnout was still healthy for this neighborhood jazz gathering.

As cool evening breezes sprung in from the west, saxophonist Charles Lloyd closed the show in heated fashion. Backed by driving accompaniment supplied by pianist Billy Childs, bassist Jeffrey Littleton and drummer Billy Hart, Lloyd made obvious reference to Charlie Parker and John Coltrane as he alternated between bebop and emotional outpouring.

In follow-up ballad and Latin frameworks, Lloyd’s determined attack retained a knowing sense of the blues, something that made even the quickest, most demanding of statements carry a human touch.

Earlier in the day, pianist Horace Tapscott’s Arkestra, reduced to 11 pieces for this appearance, established attractive modal and rhythmic foundations for its soloists. Tapscott, who spent most of his time dancing and directing while Nate Morgan manned the piano, did contribute a moving introduction to “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child.”

The five trombones of Bone Soir--George Bohanon, Garnett Brown, Maurice Spears, Thurman Green and Phil Ranelin--made for sweet harmonies, lively unison statements and solos with varied styles and personalities. Trumpeter Mark Isham’s group took the day’s most assertive stand as it played electric sounds that recalled post-Bitches Brew Miles Davis.

Singer Mary Stallings, from San Francisco, put her Dinah Washington tones to standards played in smooth style by pianist Buddy Montgomery. The beat-minded, seven-piece band Allen & Allen, from Jacksonville, Fla., opened the day with an appropriate Sunday-go-to-meetin’ feel mixed with plenty of pop appeal.

But the day’s most inspirational moment came when drummer Billy Higgins, recovering from a liver transplant,took the stage to congratulate the audience for its support of the festival. “The jazz audience knows goodness and holiness when they hear it,” he said. Amen.