George Duke

The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra will perform at the Vision Theatre at Leimert Park on March 30 in a benefit for the African American Unity Center. Soprano Harolyn Blackwell will perform along with the orchestra at the benefit, which will be hosted by KCAL-TV Channel 9 news anchor Pat Harvey and musician-producer George Duke. The concert will benefit the center's Center for the Performing Arts, a nonprofit organization that provides programs, services and training to local residents.

The $5,000 prize for best jazz song in the first Billboard Song Contest has gone to Ron Robbins of Irvine. Robbins' song, "Montego," was picked by jazz-pop stars George Benson and George Duke, the two judges in the jazz category. "Montego" now goes up against the winners in six other categories in the competition for a $25,000 grand prize. Judges will come from a panel that includes David Foster, Roy Clark, Quincy Jones, Julio Iglesias and Tammy Wynette, in addition to Benson and Duke.

Theater "Texarkana Waltz," Circle X Theatre Company's staging of Louis Broome's inventive mix of Old West parody and Elizabethan revenge tragedy, ends Saturday at Los Angeles Playhouse, 1625 N. La Brea Ave. Today-Saturday, 8 p.m. $15. (323) 969-9239, Ext. 2. Jazz Keyboardist-composer-producer George Duke closes a six-day run this weekend at Catalina Bar & Grill, 1640 Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. Today-Saturday, 8:30 and 10:30 p.m.; Sunday, 7 and 9 p.m. Thursday, $25; Friday-Sunday, $30.

New Orleans, the wounded birthplace of jazz, will be saluted during the 28th annual Playboy Jazz Festival June 17 and 18 at the Hollywood Bowl. The survival and recovery of the Crescent City will be celebrated in a joint performance by Elvis Costello & the Impostors with Allen Toussaint and his New Orleans Horn Section. .

The trio presented Tuesday by pianist Mike Garson at Le Cafe in Sherman Oaks was the same group heard in his recent album, playing the same tunes, in a welcome display of acoustic jazz. This was of particular interest for admirers of Stanley Clarke, who have seen him go through rock and funk phases, with Keith Richards and George Duke among others. They can rest assured that he remains a prodigious upright bass player when heard in a pure jazz setting.

Eclecticism will be the keynote at the 11th annual Playboy Jazz Festival June 17-18 at the Hollywood Bowl. For jazz-fusion fans there will be the likes of Stanley Clarke, George Duke and Spyro Gyra, but the cause of unhyphenated jazz will be well served by the big bands of Terry Gibbs and Illinois Jacquet, the combos of Art Blakey and Dave Brubeck, and a rare straight-ahead appearance by George Benson with the McCoy Tyner Trio. Among the five concerts scheduled for the "Jazz at the Bowl" summer series, the most intriguing is set for Aug. 9, with three big bands: Frank Foster leading the Basie ensemble, Mercer Ellington carrying on his father's legacy, and Louie Bellson with his always exciting ensemble, plus Carmen McRae as guest soloist.

Singer Ella Fitzgerald reigned as the jazz queen of the Great American Songbook for more than 50 years. Wednesday would have been her 90th birthday, and there are two singing tributes to "The First Lady of Song" planned this weekend. Sunday at the Galen Center, Natalie Cole, k.d.