A variable Gershwin songfest

Jazz, the movies and the Gershwins -- what a great musical trifecta. It lasted only a few years, but while it did, George and Ira’s production of songs for such films as “Shall We Dance,” “Girl Crazy,” “Broadway Rhythm” and “Ziegfeld Follies” produced a body of material that would become significant entries in the jazz repertoire.

So it made sense to open the 2005 jazz season at the Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday night with a tribute to the significance and the pleasures of that extraordinary combination.

The singers chosen to illuminate the Gershwin selections were veteran jazz artists Cleo Laine, Jon Hendricks and Barbara Morrison and soul-gospel stylist Oleta Adams. Pianist Bill Charlap introduced the show, provided a full range of musical backing and added several instrumental interludes.

Morrison nearly stole the performance from the beginning, singing “Our Love Is Here to Stay” and “I Loves You Porgy” with the briskly swinging musicality and storytelling intensity that are her most appealing attributes.

Although each had a few uneven moments, Laine and Hendricks displayed their musical adventurousness. Laine hit her peak at the concert’s ending with a marvelous rendering of “Embraceable You.”

Hendricks continually tried to bring more vitality to an evening that sometimes seemed far too bland given the subject matter. He was at his best with his versions of Miles Davis’ solos on “Summertime” and “Bess, Oh Where’s My Bess” and illustrated the art of scat singing over the chord changes of “Lady Be Good” and “I Got Rhythm.” Adams sounded vocally impressive but far closer to soul music than jazz on “Love Walked In” and “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.”

Charlap and his ensemble -- saxophonists Jeff Clayton, Houston Person and Bob Efford (doubling on bass clarinet), trumpeter Nicholas Payton, trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington -- played efficiently but (except for Gordon’s quirky soloing) without the sort of inspired lift that one would expect from a Gershwin evening.