The music contained the message

An array of first-rate talent showed up for “Jazz on a String” Saturday night at the Ford Amphitheatre. The sixth installment in the annual Instrumental Women Concerts featured violinist Lesa Terry, harpist Lori Andrews, vocalist Phyllis Battle and flutist-singer Cheryl Keyes in a program reaching from straight-ahead jazz to soul-style balladry.

Terry offered one briskly swinging, jazz-driven solo after another while simultaneously conducting the Lady Jazz Orchestra -- with its 18-piece string section and propulsive, four-piece rhythm team. Andrews, who was as engagingly entertaining as she was musically impressive, demonstrated a remarkable capacity to produce blues-bent improvised lines on her unwieldy instrument -- especially in her own piece, “Pluckin’ Blues.”

Keyes’ inventive flute soloing and dark-toned vocal on “Sleeping With the Enemy” sounded superb, even though her position at the rear of the stage made her virtually invisible to the left side of the audience. The ebullient Battle added a few rhythm-and-blues touches to the evening with her rendering of “Whip Appeal.”

Two of the most intriguing performances, however, came from nonheadliners: bassist Nedra Wheeler’s charming and whimsical vocal romp through “Exactly Like You,” and the delightful playing and dancing of the string octet from the Pasadena Young Musicians Orchestra.

It was, in sum, a fine evening of music. It was so good, in fact, that references to gender that kept coming up in the far too many announcements and introductions were unnecessary and distracting.