A musical split personality

There were two segments in the 25th Playboy Jazz Festival over the weekend that typified the far-reaching range of jazz styles present in the annual Hollywood Bowl celebration.

The first was an encounter between saxophonist Chris Potter, bassist Dave Holland and drummer Billy Kilson during the Saturday afternoon performance by Holland’s quintet. Extraordinary on all counts, it combined a passionate, bursting-the-seams solo from Potter with electrifying accompaniment by Holland and Kilson. More than any other passage in the two-day program, it resonated with the festival’s rich tradition of presenting jazz at its very best.

The second segment, a performance Saturday night by saxophonist Boney James, revealed the other aspect of what the festival’s impresario, George Wein, described as the need to combine “credibility with commercial appeal.” Strutting peacock-like across the stage and into the crowd, playing one repetitive lick after another, emphasizing manner over musical content, James was the personification of commerciality.

Guess which saxophonist drew the more enthusiastic audience response. Hint: It wasn’t Potter.

So give Wein credit for knowing what he’s doing when it comes to putting together a programming mix that can fill an 18,000-seat venue, as the Playboy Jazz Festival did on Saturday and Sunday. Fortunately, most of the other choices were more musically engaging examples of stylistic diversity.

Convincing evidence of the bright future of jazz was provided by the L.A. County High School for the Arts Jazz Ensemble, the Brubeck Institute Jazz Quintet and, especially, two impressive young singers, Lizz Wright and Renee Olstead.

The 22-year-old Wright’s warm-toned sound and flowing sense of rhythm understandably captivated Saturday’s afternoon crowd. But it was the unscheduled appearance by the sweetly charming 13-year-old Olstead that drew the entire festival’s only purely spontaneous standing ovation. Singing “At Last” with soaring, blues-tinged musicality, she displayed all the qualities of a star in the making.

Equally fascinating were the numerous entries from stylistic and geographical areas bearing subtle but insistent connections to jazz. Fanfare Ciocarlia, a Gypsy brass band from Romania, played with the drive and, yes, the swing of a New Orleans street band. The lithe and supple Brazilian singer-dancer Daniela Mercury introduced the rhythms of samba-reggae to the proceedings in her familiar upbeat fashion, but without enough of the brilliant choreography that has typified past appearances.

Diverse sounds were also generated by several unusual American ensembles, as well: the intense gospel singing of the Blind Boys of Alabama; the spirited, sometimes avant-garde sounding music of the New Orleans Klezmer All-Stars and the smooth jazz of Hiroshima.

Latin jazz, an increasingly important element in any festival these days, brought rhythmic spice to both days’ programming. Bobby Rodriguez, leading his big Salsa Orchestra, played trumpet, sang, danced and rapped with the style of a leader born to the spotlight; Poncho Sanchez displayed his stirring percussion work with a guest-star contribution from saxophonist James Moody; Los Hombres Calientes found the links between Afro Caribbean music and New Orleans; and Ozomatli, relying heavily on hip-hop rhythms, took the festival a far, far distance from its announced identity.

That identity -- jazz -- was well-handled by veterans Dave Brubeck, Roy Haynes and Al Jarreau, each performing with his familiar elan, each reminding the audience of the great heritage that is the foundation of the Playboy Festival. In a highlight, Jarreau sang a marvelously inventive version of “Take Five” with the song’s original presenters, the Brubeck Quartet. Two ad hoc ensembles, the L.A. Home Grown All-Star Big Band and Bill Cosby’s Cos of Good Music VIII, enhanced the jazz-oriented aspects of the day.

Finally, capping Wein’s desire to offer commercially viable acts, there were offerings from Boz Scaggs, in a bland set of takes from the Great American Songbook, and “Guitars & Saxes,” a wallpaper-music assemblage from smooth-jazz bestsellers Richard Elliot, Peter White, Jeff Golub and Steve Cole.