Masters Make Their Guitar Strings Sing

It was a night for the guitar Wednesday at the Hollywood Bowl in a jazz program titled “Swingin’ on Six Strings.” The title was just a bit off in the case of one of the headliners, John Pizzarelli, who actually plays a fairly rare seven-string instrument. But there was no question about the appropriateness of the titular “Swingin’,” since the featured musicians--Russell Malone and Mark Whitfield, in addition to Pizzarelli--each delivered his own brand of solid, foot-tapping playing.

They did so in highly personable style, dispensing sounds ranging from blues and funk to fusion and mainstream. Whitfield has a reputation for quick-fingered, precisely articulate playing, but his set was also notable for its musical accessibility. Rendering numbers such as “Girl Talk” and “Invitation,” he matched his contemporary-sounding virtuosity with a surprisingly lyrical touch. Still not as well known as the other guitarists on the bill, he clearly deserves a wider hearing.

Malone, of course, has been most visible for the past few years as Diana Krall’s indispensable musical partner. Musicians have long recognized, however, that his skills reach well beyond the level of accompaniment. And Malone’s wide scope was particularly evident in two numbers: a sensitive, gorgeously harmonized interpretation of the “Brigadoon” standard, “The Heather on the Hill,” and a hard-driving blues that managed to find both humor and passion in the timeless musical form.

Pizzarelli’s set was an appealing collection of mainstream jazz played with immaculate precision by his trio (with brother Martin Pizzarelli on bass and longtime associate Ray Kennedy on piano). Singing with a Nat Cole-like verve and playing guitar with the controlled intensity typical of his well-known musician father, Bucky, Pizzarelli was superb.

The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra opened the second half of the evening with typically elegant performances of pieces written or arranged by the Philharmonic’s artistic director of jazz, John Clayton.