Hef keeps swinging at 30th Playboy Jazz Fest

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Cosby will be taking the stage himself as second drummer with Cos of Good Music, a band of top-rate jazz musicians that made its debut at the 1995 festival. Each year, Cosby chooses a repertoire of tunes by John Coltrane, Miles Davis and other jazz masters to perform at the festival.

Cosby says the festival's "most consistent but least acknowledged performer" is the Bowl's revolving stage which allows the music to run continuously for eight hours each day from early afternoon to late night.

"There's no waiting," said Cosby. "There's a band and when they finish their last number and people are applauding, the stage spins around, and then I say and now so forth and so on. ... We're better than the trains and certainly better than the airlines."

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Darlene Chan, the festival's associate producer for all 30 years, says this year's event will once again offer an "eclectic" lineup intended to appeal to a diverse cross-section of Angelenos.

The lineup includes Hefner's personal favorite — big bands (Shari Maricle's all-female Diva Jazz Orchestra and the Roy Hargrove Big Band) — and mainstream jazz (Terence Blanchard with James Moody's Quartet). Others set to perform include Poncho Sanchez, Keb' Mo', Tower of Power, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Al Jarreau, and two festival newcomers, pianist Robert Glasper and R&B singer Ryan Shaw.

"I think what's kept us going is that we don't stay with just one kind of jazz," said Chan. "We try to cover all the bases and I'm proud of that. We're kind of open to everything but it all has to be good music."

Hefner continues to offer his input on festival bookings. In January, the anniversary celebrations continue with the first Playboy Jazz Cruise with bassist Marcus Miller serving as musical host and Hancock, Dianne Reeves and James Moody among the special guests.

Asked how he sees the festival's future, Hefner refers to Count Basie's famous coda at the end of "April in Paris": "More of the same. As Basie said, `One more time.'"

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