25th Playboy Jazz Festival embraces a range of styles

Diversity is the keyword for the 25th Playboy Jazz Festival, which will take place at the Hollywood Bowl on June 14 and 15. The silver anniversary show, whose roster was announced Thursday, features a global lineup defining the wide range of music that has come to be included beneath the umbrella of jazz.

In the pure, mainstream jazz category, 82-year-old pianist Dave Brubeck, who appeared in the first Playboy Jazz Festival, will perform with his quartet, as well as in a collaboration on “Take Five” with Al Jarreau.

Another hardy veteran, drummer Roy Haynes, 77, will lead his own quartet, as will bassist Dave Holland.

Host Bill Cosby will front his ad hoc all-star group, and there will be a debut presentation by another ensemble, the L.A. Homegrown All Star Big Band.

Festival producer George Wein has frequently noted that with the passing of major names such as Miles Davis and Ella Fitzgerald, it’s virtually impossible to present a pure jazz event of the sort that was mounted in the ‘50s and ‘60s. So it’s not surprising that the Playboy schedule also includes such smooth-jazz acts as saxophonist Boney James, Hiroshima and Guitars & Saxes. And the presence of the Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band, the Bobby Rodriguez Salsa Orchestra and Latin Grammy winner Issac Delgado testifies to the growing visibility of Latin jazz.

In the arena generally described as world music, artists include Brazil’s singer-dancer Daniela Mercury, the Romanian gypsy brass band Fanfare Ciocarlia and King Sunny Ade & his African Beats. Pop singer Boz Scaggs, the gospel group the Blind Boys of Alabama and the New Orleans Klezmer All Stars will also perform.

The festival’s presentation of young talent is slim, with highly touted singer Lizz Wright, the Brubeck Institute Jazz Quintet and the L.A. County High School for the Arts Jazz Ensemble representing the only nods in the direction of the next generation of jazz artists.

Tickets, ranging from $15 to $100, are available by mail order. Forms may be requested by calling (310) 449-4070.

Tickets will go on sale on May 4 through Ticketmaster, the Hollywood Bowl box office and at the Web site www.playboy.com/arts-entertainment.