Jazz fest encompasses all types of music
By Laura Tate/Editor
It’s been more than a week, but the pleasant afternoon I spent in the sun at the Hollywood Bowl for the 25th Anniversary Playboy Jazz Festival, moving my body to music that ranged from down home blues to light silky jazz, still stays with me.
The day was perfect-sun out, but not too hot, the audience, streaming in with picnic baskets or coolers packed with food (and spirits), in a universally good mood, ready to take in the music.
The festival inaugurated its first year in 1979 with the likes of Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, Herbie Hancock, Ray Brown, Stan Getz and many more. In subsequent festivals, virtually every jazz legend graced the stage of the Bowl. I have not followed the festival through the years, but the term jazz now seems to encompass much more than the syncopated rhythms and improvisation for which the music is known.
Arriving an hour late, we were just in time to catch most of Lizz Wright’s set. The young, sleek Wright, wearing a casual, floor-length floral dress, demonstrated a cool, yet soulful lyrical talent. Her song “Blue Rose” was a melancholic piece sung a cappella with the repeated phrase “Lost in a tango of Life.” The audience asked for more and she ended with a soulful bluesy, “Take the Soul Road.”
The down home blues came with the Blind Boys of Alabama, a gospel group whose leader seemed as if he was intent on converting the audience over to his faith in God, which seemed incongruous with some in the audience, mainly the founder, Hugh Hefner, and his blond harem.
Blind Boys at first was entertaining, with the earthy, rhythmic beat moving some to wave white hankies, but the repetitiveness of the too loud music left me covering my ears.
Hiroshima came next with its Japanese musical take on jazz. In response to a request by master of ceremonies Bill Cosby from last year, “Koto Blues” was played. A Japanese instrument, the koto, was performed “American Style.”
Cosby took part in a set with the L.A. Home Grown All Star Big Band, a group that boasted “everyone on this stage is a native Los Angeleno,” playing the clav.
The band is filled with Grammy-nominated and Grammy-winning players, including famed saxophonist Tom Scott, drummer Ndugu Chancler and sax player Ernie Watts.
The fest showed a more pop-like flare with Daniela Mercury, whose music is described as a mix of samba-reggae, salsa, rock, merengue and lambada. The set was complete with video of images to accompany the songs.
Legendary pop man Bozz Scaggs seemed to disappoint loyal fans by playing mostly new tunes from his first jazz CD, “But Beautiful,” which includes mostly standards. If he got to his hits from the ’70s and ’80s, I can’t say, as we left early (my friend wasn’t feeling well), before the act I really wanted to see, percussionist Poncho Sanchez who I know would have gotten me dancing on my feet.
Maybe next year.