Playboy Fest Again Trumpets Program Spiced With Variety

Latin jazz, smooth jazz and the blues will be prominently featured at the 21st annual Playboy Jazz Festival on June 12 and 13 at the Hollywood Bowl. The two-day lineup, which was announced Thursday in a press conference at the Playboy Mansion, headlines Ray Charles, Grover Washington Jr., Joshua Redman and Chucho Valdes.

“We look for a balance,” says Playboy Jazz Festival President Dick Rosenzweig, “between traditional forms of jazz and what we see as the next wave in what will be the jazz of tomorrow. In recent years, Latin jazz has emerged as an enormously vital, exciting and diverse jazz expression. And the blues is honest roots jazz that underpins most of contemporary rock and pop music as well.”

Mirroring last year’s program, the Latin jazz component is particularly strong. In addition to Cuban pianist-bandleader Valdes, who appears with his quintet on the June 12 bill, Brazilian singer-songwriter Ivan Lins performs on the same program. On June 13, percussionist Ray Barretto and guitarist Kenny Burrell present a Latin tribute to Duke Ellington, and the 13-piece Juan DeMarco Afro-Cuban All Stars make their festival debut.

The smooth jazz/contemporary jazz entries range from Washington’s groove-oriented tenor, alto and soprano saxophone playing on June 12 to the top-charted saxophone stylings of Boney James on the June 13 bill.

Both days offer significant blues segments. The veteran guitarist Buddy Guy, with his high-energy style, appears June 12. And the program on June 13 features Hall of Famer Charles, as well as singer Etta James and her Roots Band, a scene-stealer in past festival appearances.

Mainstream, straight-ahead jazz, although present in a variety of formats, makes up only about half of the festival programming this year. A highlight is the appearance of tenor saxophonist Redman--arguably the most visible new young jazz artist of the late ‘90s--on the June 12 program. On the same bill, Jon Hendricks and Annie Ross revive memories of the classic ‘60s group Lambert, Hendricks & Ross; Dianne Reeves provides a more contemporary take on jazz singing; and Bill Cosby’s “Cos of Good Music IV” includes James Carter, Kevin Eubanks and Ndugu Chancler.