Despite Sound Woes, Jazz Concert Cooks

Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival Saturday, Feb. 28, University of Idaho, Kibbie Dome, Moscow

The final concert of the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival was presided over, as they all were, by the man who gave his name to the festival and the University of Idaho music school. Through the entire four-hour-plus evening, Lionel Hampton sat and smiled approvingly on all the goings-on.

Hampton does not move as quickly as the last time I saw him. He called off some tunes, directed some, played a few solos and sang a few times. Mostly he let the young lions get up and roar, but his bright eyes gave off an energy and an aura which pulled the whole performance together.

There was much that was good about the concert, but allow me to rave for a moment about a few personal revelations.

Brian Bromberg on the bass.

I have been around music for a while - but obviously in the wrong places. I never before have seen anyone do anything close to what Bromberg did on the electric bass.

He apparently had the pickups cranked so that a mere touch of the strings produced a sound, then was all over the fret board with both hands, making the instrument sound like two - a bass and a guitar. I never imagined that one man with one bass and lightning fingers could blow me away like that.

Diana Krall, piano and vocals.

I had heard the name but not the voice. Krall has the hornlike accuracy and flexibility which make a jazz singer interesting to listen to. Her voice was at turns clear or husky, icy or seductive, sometimes within the same phrase. The high school kids should have been made to leave the room before “I’m Feeling Hungry, Peel Me a Grape.”

And Krall’s keyboard skills are in no way secondary to her singing. She performed extended solos with skill, revealing hints of George Shearing in “You’re Getting to Be a Habit.”

Haley Hudson, vocalist.

I apologize if the spelling isn’t correct - I couldn’t confirm it by my deadline. Hudson appeared to be 10 years old and seemed a bit bewildered at the best way to get on and off stage.

But when she sang Hoagy Carmichael’s “Skylark,” there was no confusion. She sang with incredible confidence, style, power and finesse which belied her age. There was an instant standing ovation.

The New York Big Band, the mainstay of the show, swung hard, and everybody in the band soloed, almost on every number.

The “giants” appeared on stage for a brief but memorable moment. Jon Faddis, Bill Watrous, Frank Wess, Claudio Roditi and Billy Contrares cooked on “How High the Moon.” I could have listened to more of all of them, especially Contrares, a 13-year-old violinist who has a fluid and creative style all his own.

A decidedly downside of the concert was the sound. I was almost ready to jump ship after the first set, which was plagued with nearly constant feedback and idiotic microphone balance which made it impossible to hear what the band was playing. Trumpeters Pete and Conte Condoli might as well not have come on stage because no one in the sound crew seemed to be able to figure out which mikes they were using and get them turned on or adjusted.

Fortunately, things improved, albeit slowly, as the concert went on.

The evening ended just after midnight with Lionel Hampton singing “What a Wonderful World.” This song can be a powerful statement when it comes from the proper source, and Hampton is definitely the source. It drilled right through when he sang the line, “I see babies cry and watch them grow/They know much more than I’ll ever know.”

It is people like you, with your talent and energy, who have made it a wonderful world, Mr. Hampton.