Missing: female voices

A quick glance at the program for Sunday’s Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl would lead one to believe that just about every stylistic base had been covered, including several with marginal connections to jazz. But experiencing the performances, on the second day of one of the annual program’s most sun-baked weekends, eventually brought to mind a distinctive absence in the lineup: There wasn’t a single female jazz singer present, on Saturday or Sunday.

That’s a surprising omission, given that vocalists such as Diana Krall, Cassandra Wilson and Dianne Reeves -- among many others -- have been among the most prominent, and bestselling, jazz performers of the last decade. And, since the male singers who were on the bill included only one with authentic jazz chops -- Jamie Cullum (who performed on Saturday) -- the vocal component in the 28th Playboy Festival was otherwise relegated to world music (Baaba Maal), pop (Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint), gospel (the McCollough Sons of Thunder), Latin (the collective singing of Ozomatli) and a few snippets from the Chuck Mangione group and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

The one ensemble with a significant female presence -- the Women’s Jazz Orchestra of Los Angeles, conducted by Lesa Terry -- was programmed far too early in the day to be heard by a full house audience.

Even worse, their fine musicality and briskly swinging rhythms were buried in a muddy audio mix, played back at such a high decibel level that it lost every vestige of artistic subtlety. Which was a shame, because Terry’s ensemble -- which featured harpist Lori Andrews, flutist-pianist Cheryl Keyes, bassist Nedra Wheeler and special guest artist Terri Lyne Carrington on drums -- was one of the most intriguing entries of the festival.

The Women’s Jazz Orchestra was not the only group damaged by a sound level more appropriate for a rock concert than a jazz program. Fortunately, aural sanity returned fairly quickly to a concert which -- aside from the absence of female songstresses -- was a fine example of jazz diversity.

Youth was well served with two performers. The music of trumpeter Christian Scott, 22, was a successful foray across stylistic genres, smoothly blending straight-ahead jazz with contemporary sounds and rhythms. Pianist Eldar, 19, continued to display his extraordinarily rapid growth to musical maturity.

Other highlights included McCoy Tyner’s engaging interaction with the Lula Washington Dance Theatre, Chuck Mangione playing a set of his memorable greatest hits, and the Latin energies of Ozomatli and Eddie Palmieri (with his Afro-Caribbean All-Stars, including David Sanchez and Regina Carter).

In the headliner positions, Gerald Albright, Jeff Lorber and Kirk Whalum brought the crowd out of their seats with a tribute to Grover Washington Jr. And the teaming of Costello and Toussaint firmly underscored the festival’s willingness to spread the jazz tent wide.