Jazz Festival Packed With Outstanding Talent

Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival Thursday, Feb. 20, UI’s Kibbie Dome

Joe Lovano’s performance at the University of Idaho’s Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival on Thursday night demonstrated both the festival’s incredible strengths, and some of its weaknesses.

As for the strengths, we need go no further than Lovano’s first tune, a slow and lush Sinatra-like ballad. Lovano, voted the best tenor saxophonist in the world by downbeat magazine, played with a pensive lyricism that perfectly suited this alone-in-a-saloon-at-2 a.m. material. The backing from the festival quartet - pianist Hank Jones, drummer (and brother) Elvin Jones, guitarist Herb Ellis and bassist Brian Bromberg - was understated and warm.

Lovano gets a honey-rich tone from his unusually shaped “straight” sax. The bell points almost straight at the floor instead curving up as in a regular tenor sax. It looks like one of those Swiss alpenhorns, or even more alarmingly, like a blunderbuss.

“It looks like he’s going hunting!” joked fellow tenor sax player Benny Golson. Well, he can go hunting all he wants if he plays like that with it.

As for the weaknesses, here’s the problem: Lovano played only that tune and one other duet with Golson. For those of us who had waited for 2 hours to see the best tenor sax man in the world, it was a bit disappointing.

This concert was crammed with so many special guests (18, to be precise) that we had precious little time to spend with any of them. And even then, the concert dragged on far beyond the patience of many in the audience. We left at the four-hour mark (11 p.m.), along with many others who may have also been facing a long drive back to Spokane, yet neither the Cedar Walton Trio nor Hampton had taken the stage.

So, in a way, this was the worst of both worlds: a concert that goes on too long yet does not give us enough of anything.

In another way, this is also the best of all worlds, because we got tastes of so many outstanding artists. Vocalist Diana Krall, who might be the blond female incarnation of Nat King Cole, was absolutely stunning in her three tunes, Cole’s “This Can’t Be Love,” and two Duke Ellington pieces.

The evening’s other vocalist, Dee Daniels, was also in fine form, especially with her brilliant and bluesy version of “Gee, Baby, Ain’t I Good to You.”

Another huge treat was the dual appearance of two legendary trumpeters, Pete and Conte Candoli. These two brothers fired off a couple of brilliant tunes, including an endlessly inventive version of “Willow Weep for Me.”

Pianist Jane Jarvis also made Cole Porter’s “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” sound fresh and sparkling, full of new possibilities.

I mustn’t forget the many, many brilliant solos from Hank Jones, who accompanied almost all of the artists. He can improvise effortlessly on any melody, any genre, and he enhanced every single tune of the evening.

Jones, along with brother Elvin, guitarist Ellis and bassist Bromberg, will be back tonight, along with Dianne Reeves Hampton’s New York Big Band, for the GTE Giants of Jazz Concert.

, DataTimes MEMO: The Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival continues today with a concert at 4:45 p.m. by the winners of the instrumental competition ($5), and GTE Giants of Jazz Concert tonight at 8 ($25/$20/$18). Both concerts are at the Kibbie Dome.