Gerald Clayton

The Playboy Jazz Festival kicked off its annual series of free community concerts Sunday afternoon with performances by the Hollywood Klezmer Jazz Quintet and the Bobby Rodriguez Salsa Orchestra at the Beverly Hills Civic Center Plaza. Blessed with clear skies and warm temperatures, the event drew a crowd of more than 600 listeners to the attractive, open-air setting.

The performance by the Gerald Clayton Trio on Monday night in Catalina Bar & Grill's Young Artist Jazz Series should have been videotaped for future use. One of those uses would be the opportunity for more jazz fans to hear and see these remarkable young musicians in action. An equally important use would be to screen it for the far too many professional artists who seem to have forgotten the individual excitement, the spirited coming together and the sheer joy of making music.

The Benny Carter tribute Wednesday at the Hollywood Bowl couldn't have come on a more appropriate date: the 100th anniversary of the birth of the iconic, multiskilled artist who died in 2003. So it wasn't surprising that Carter's creative imagination -- a vital element through nearly eight decades -- was a constant presence in the long and varied program. The event-packed evening, hosted by Quincy Jones, featured a diverse group of performers.

The term "Third Stream" surfaced in the late '50s and early '60s as a description for works that blended elements of jazz and classical music. Although the phrase was new, the idea wasn't, since composers from Scott Joplin and George Gershwin to Igor Stravinsky and Leonard Bernstein had already found ways to link the two. Nearly half a century later, the fascination with Third Stream persists, even though the term itself is now rarely used.

The Jazz Summit performance at Catalina Bar & Grill on Sunday was much more than a gathering of first-rate talent. Yes, it was a rare treat to hear trumpeter Roy Hargrove, saxophonist Ernie Watts, pianists Gerald Clayton and Tamir Hendelman, guitarist Bruce Forman and singer Roberta Gambarini, among others, on the same stage, in the same program.

It was apparent from the advance schedule that last weekend's Newport Beach Jazz Party would be an appetizing banquet of musical dishes.

Staples Center is bustling with activity ahead of Sunday's Grammy Awards. Red carpets are being rolled out, producers are going over the run of the show, and chart-topping artists are polishing their performances. Just two miles away, in USC's Grand Ballroom, another type of Grammy-related rehearsal is taking place. The music director for Latin superstar Juanes stands in the middle of a seven-piece band giving its members pointers on how to play "Me Enamora. " However, the musicians intently running through the track aren't employed by the Grammy-winning singer.