Home » Jazz News » Festival

227

Playboy Jazz Festival

Source:

Sign in to view read count
“Rain or shine" was printed across every Playboy Jazz Festival ticket this year, a boilerplate message that seemed laughably perfunctory for a summertime concert in Southern California but nearly encapsulated each day of the weekend festival.

On Saturday, the Hollywood Bowl stage had to be covered after a late-morning drizzle threatened to soak the first day of the festival's 31st installment. But thankfully, the closest thing to an umbrella seen over the weekend was a mini-parade of white parasols carried by women pulled from the crowd to dance along with the Rebirth Brass Band during the group's early Saturday set.

While the New Orleans-based band enjoyed a brief flash of sun seemingly through the sheer force of “St. James Infirmary" and other raucous favorites, the Playboy Jazz Festival didn't need perfect weather to get people in a festive mood.

Indeed, weaving into the near-capacity venue through a logjam of wheeled coolers and Trader Joe's bags gave one the feeling of arriving at the city's largest multicultural potluck as much as at a world-famous jazz festival.

But for all the genial passing of plates between Bowl boxes and bleachers, the festival still comes down to the music.

On Saturday afternoon, Dizzy Gillespie-inspired trumpeter Jon Faddis led his quartet through straight-ahead jazz that earned a swell of appreciation as he touched on Lee Morgan's classic “Sidewinder" before interjecting a somewhat clumsy if well-intended rap that gave a shout-out to Coleman Hawkins, Count Basie and other swing-minded jazz titans.

Rising star Esperanza Spalding, her signature cloud of curly hair hemmed into a ponytail, combined a deep, roomy tone on upright bass with a smoothly soaring voice that ran over the chatty crowd like raw honey. At one point, she delivered a restless, weather-appropriate cover of “Wild Is the Wind" that dared recall Nina Simone, before warning that she and her band would “like to do something that could be considered fusion."

“Hmm," she added slyly.

Continue Reading...

Comments

Tags

View events near Los Angeles
Jazz Near Los Angeles
Events Guide | Venue Guide | Local Businesses | More...

News

Popular

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.