On one hand there is the festival itself, a sprawling two-day buffet of non-stop live music, summer sun and good vibrations happening this Saturday and Sunday in one of the most famous and naturally beautiful spaces in the city, the Hollywood Bowl. After 31 years, the combination has become a local tradition, with some fans reserving seats before the lineups are announced.
On the other hand there is the festival's mass-appeal booking philosophy, one that inevitably leads to the scratching of a few jazz-obsessed heads.
For every classic performance-in-the-making from such respected artists as the Wayne Shorter Quartet or up-and-coming bassist-singer Esperanza Spalding, there are sets from more broadly commercial acts that can have trouble competing with the festival's, well, festive setting.
“It can be kind of a mixed blessing," said Herbie Hancock, who has performed at the Playboy Jazz Festival a number of times, including last year. “I'd much rather perform at night when I have some heavy stuff that I'm doing . . . The daytime, for me as a performer and as a member of the audience, it's [conducive to] -- I was going to use the word 'lighter' fare but that can be misconstrued -- anything that has a more overt kind of power to it I think works in the daytime."
Playboy always has had a welcoming attitude toward funk, blues and world music artists, and this year the always impressive Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings and Nigerian icon King Sunny Ade are sure to be among the event's highlights. But it's the festival's fondness for radio-friendly smooth jazz that makes it somewhat unique among its contemporaries.
