Whalum, Carlton Bring Honesty to Bowl Program

JVC Jazz at the Bowl on Sunday night was the smooth jazz revenge for the summer-long mainstream programs of Lexus Jazz at the Bowl. And what better revenge than a nearly full house, the attendance eclipsing any of the crowds that have shown up so far for Lexus.

The highly responsive audience turned out to experience the offerings of the bands of Everette Harp, Keiko Matsui, Kirk Whalum, Larry Carlton and the Rippingtons (featuring Russ Freeman)--each a star act in the smooth jazz genre. Taking full advantage of the 45 to 50 minutes allocated to them, the ensembles made the most of their time, breezing through an old hit or two, trying out some new material, interacting with the crowd. (Whalum followed the Kenny G pattern of taking a playing jaunt through the crowd, his sound amplified by a wireless microphone.)

Since the primary goal of most smooth jazz artists is the marketing of their albums, it’s not surprising that the music often had a prepackaged quality. Matsui, for example, has for years been presenting a segment in which she slings a portable keyboard over her shoulder and moves to the front of the stage to exchange riffs with the group’s saxophonist, in this case Gary Riley. Given her demure manner, it’s an effective gimmick, but at this point it has become routine and has largely lost whatever musical content it might once have had.

Two of the acts, however, still appeared to be in close touch with their creative roots. Whalum’s soulful rendering of a spiritual number from an upcoming album, and a colorful vocal performance by his brother, Kevin, were welcome changes from the predictability of so many of the evening’s offerings.

So, too, were the blues of Carlton, performed with simmering, uncomplicated musical passion. Most of the balance of Whalum’s and Carlton’s sets emphasized their hits, but when they came together for a joint appearance, they once again revealed the skill that continues to energize their commercial efforts.

The Rippingtons, however, have reached a point where the group’s talent seems to be directed almost completely into carefully structured commercial concoctions. With a long string of top-charting albums behind them, the formula obviously is working. But the group’s more imaginative qualities, which Freeman frequently insisted upon in their earlier work, failed on this night to make much impact on their program.