Searing temperatures in the upper 90s were not the only thing that burned during the two-day Freihofer Jazz Festival in Saratoga Springs, the 28th edition produced at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center by George Wein and his Festival Productions crew.

This year's festival was not resplendent with the biggest "star names in jazz — though there were some — but the music featured many great musicians and many of them young. There was something for just about everyone, except for a blues band, which is normally a part of the festivities. To offset that, however, there were no pop acts that have nothing to do with jazz. That, also, had become commonplace over the years.

On two stages, 23 bands performed, from smooth jazz types like saxophonist Boney James to the venerable Lou Donaldson and the American icon Dave Brubeck. In-the-pocket swing like John Pizzarelli, virtuoso stylings like the Bela Fleck-Jean Luc Ponty-Stanley Clarke formation, diverse vocals of Lizz Wright, Cassandra Wilson, Al Jarreau and Gretchen Parlato and cutting-edge post-bop music by the likes of Rudresh Mahanthappa and Kurt Rosenwinkel all got a chance to shine.

And among the bands to shine the brightest involved piano players: the legendary McCoy Tyner with Ravi Coltrane, the wizardry of Frenchman Jean-Michel Pilc and the profundity of Mulgrew Miller, who appeared in trumpeter Terell Stafford's quartet. And Latin bands like El Echo and a quintet led by Dafnis Prieto also kicked ass.

El Echo opened the weekend at the smaller gazebo stage on the SPAC grounds, led by drummer Guillermo Nojechowicz, the band dished out a tasty set of Latin music that showed the flexible voice of Kim Nazarian, also one of the four New York Voices. The band was polished and classy, and it was a pleasure to find the outstanding harmonica player Hendrick Meurkens offering his own sweet way to the festivities. On the main stage the Motet was somewhat disappointing. The band's horns and guitar play over layers of different rhythms, but somehow it sounded sterile and at time almost like "smooth stuff.

The gazebo stage is perennially a highlight throughout the fest. Terrell Stafford's group was an example, with the trumpeter showing why he's considered one of the best out there, his chops strong and his ideas creative and exploratory, his tone clear and bright. The band did music from his last CD New Beginnings. Miller, a pianist's pianist, was stellar as well. He's always both tasty and inventive; overwhelming in technique, yet managing not to overwhelm the listener.

Gretchen Parlato, whose first CD is due out soon, showed a soft and subtle style of jazz singing. Not a diva like, say Diane Reeves, her tone is soft, but she uses it to great advantage, getting to the emotion of the song in a different way. Nuance is a word that many jazz musicians should learn. (Unlike Trio!, the Fleck-Ponty-Clarke group that is more of a "look what I can do aggregation as they blared from the main stage on Sunday). Parlato performed standards like "Skylark, but mostly took songs from Latin America, mostly Brazil. "Doralice was softly swinging and her lyric to Wayne Shorter's "Juju was a delight, and delivered in a poignant fashion, "...look to your heart and you will find the truth/ its Footprints will leave us to find/ our own voices in our own times. . Sweet.

Pilc's trio was a gas. He approaches the instrument differently than most players, and the interplay with his trio, particularly drummer Ari Hoenig, was spot on. They were experimental with rhythms, cadence and dynamics, but always on the same page. A band, not a group of all-stars. Pilc has startling technique, but far- reaching influences. He played as softly as one can play at times, and at others literally attacked the piano with percussive pounding with two hands. The arrangements were all fresh, especially the closer "All Blues that took an odd tempo and staccato phrasing that gave the chestnut a pleasurable spin.

Rudresh Mahanthappa has been gaining steam in New York City and his set was intense. His playing is Bird meets Trane, in a sense, but he is, of course, developing his own voice. The songs were all from his Mother Tongue recording. While Mahanthappa burned, pianist Vijay Iyer was both precocious and searching. The two are longtime collaborators and they have a great way between them. The band cooks.

Prieto is a tremendous Cuban drummer who has been landing great gigs out of New York City, with the likes of Michel Camilo and the Caribbean Jazz Project. His own quintet was superb. As he laid down polyrhythms and exotic beats, the wonderful Brian Lynch blew his usual stellar stories with a big fat trumpet sound. Yousvany Terry complimented him well on tenor sax. Smokin' set.

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