Music and Dancing Break Out Across the City by the Bay

Sunday’s virtually nonstop program at the San Francisco Jazz Festival was a classic example of the production’s insistence upon integrating the event into the diverse energies of this colorful city.

The day started with a stunning blend of music and place. The music was the brisk, Django Reinhardt-inspired violin-and-guitar jazz of the Hot Club of San Francisco, and the hard-swinging, Count Basie-style rhythms of singer Lavay Smith and her Red Hot Skillet Lickers. The place was San Francisco Bay, as a cruise ship carried a full cargo of jazz fans on a swing-filled voyage. There weren’t any breaks in the music or dancing, and the Skillet Lickers--despite the trendy name, a solid collection of jazz veterans--lent considerable creative credibility to the continuing revival of swing music.

On Sunday afternoon, the music became far more traditional, as pianist Dick Hyman and clarinetist William Carter led their mainstream bands in adjoining rooms at the Peacock Court of the Mark Hopkins Hotel. The crowd, by any estimation the senior audience of the festival, nonetheless did not hesitate to fill the dance floor, moving happily through an impressive array of dips, swirls and Lindy Hops.

That evening’s two overlapping major concerts took place, fortunately for those with tickets to both, across the street from each other on Nob Hill.

Tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman, the ‘90s’ most successful new jazz talent, performed at the Masonic Auditorium on a duo bill with steel pan player Andy Narell. Redman has matured dramatically in the past year or two, and his playing--especially in a stunning, opening cadenza on “Summertime”--revealed a refreshing originality and that most special of qualities, an emerging voice of his own.

Small ensembles--singer Ann Dyer’s trio, the pairings of trumpeter Tom Harrell and bassist Gary Peacock, and saxophonist Yusef Lateef and percussionist Adam Rudolph--appeared across the street in the vast, acoustically alive Grace Cathedral. A potentially major talent, Dyer was particularly impressive when she used her flexible voice to open the boundaries of jazz singing, less so when her material did not match the imaginativeness of her vocals. Harrell and Peacock offered strong performances of a set of standards, but Peacock’s busy style too often seemed inappropriate for Harrell’s lyrical fluegelhorn work. And Rudolph and Lateef, old companions, performed with easygoing togetherness.

Monday, a relatively light festival day, nonetheless featured a blockbuster evening concert at Davies Symphony Hall with the all-Cuban bill of pianists Jesus “Chucho” Valdes and the now-legendary Ruben Gonzalez. It was a rare opportunity to hear, side by side, two polar aspects of Cuban music--the elegant, European-influenced dance music of Gonzalez and the Afro-Cuban, jazz-tinged rhythms of Valdes. Despite their differences, it also was possible to hear the clear lineage that has passed from the elder Gonzalez to the younger Valdes--a fascinating musical juxtaposition.

With a few more days to go, the 16th installment of the festival already has drawn enough overflow audiences to be considered a success. But there are plenty of highlights still to come. Among them: a tribute to Art Blakey and Milt Jackson; a pairing of singers Rosemary Clooney and Kevin Mahogany; a Puerto Rican dance party with Marc Anthony; two programs exploring jazz and Jewish music; and appearances by saxophonist David Sanchez, singer Andy Bey, pianists Gerri Allen, Ellis Marsalis, Kenny Barron, and numerous other artists.

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* The San Francisco Jazz Festival. At locations around San Francisco, continuing through Sunday. Tickets available for some events. For schedule and ticket availability, call (415) 788-7353.