Musically speaking, the 28th annual Playboy Jazz Festival was alternately mellow and rousing from the first notes played by the talented teens in the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts to the last blasts blown by dueling saxophonists Gerald Albright and Kirk Whalum with titillating piano work by Jeff Lorber.

Hugh Hefner, the playboy who loves jazz music as much as he does women and personal freedom, said in a rare mid-festival press conference the people of Los Angeles are the key to the event's continuing success.

Measuring success by audience appreciation, respect for artists playing their hearts out on stage and understanding some semblance of the genre rather than ticket sales, however, reveals the festival's flaw.

PhotoVisions inc/David L Perry : Stanley Clarke and George Duke

To remember why Playboy Jazz Festival is popular it is wise to focus on the stage and the magic created there by the world-class artists Hefner equally credits for the event's success. The artistry of the performers is a better starting point than the madness of some fans' antics and illegally lascivious public displays.

Photo by Taylor Jordan : Branford Marsalis

Besides the return of favorite festival master of ceremonies Bill Cosby, particularly tasty slices of the original American music pie served hot and cool came from adventurous bassist Stanley Clarke with creatively distinctive piano partner George Duke, pulling-out-all-the-stops Gerald Albright, Kirk Whalum and Jeff Lorber in a closing tribute to late festival favorite Grover Washington Jr., booming big band harmonies by the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra with vivacious vibraphonist Stefon Harris as special guest, beautifully seasoned playing by piano legend McCoy Tyner accompanying Lula Washington Dance Theatre's bold, sensuous and charismatically choreographed movements and then leading his own trio in a sheets-of-sound set and distinctively different stylized sax work by Branford Marsalis and Benny Golson.

Photo by Taylor Jordan : Elder Babb

The Cos of Good Music - which also included regular bassist Dwayne Burno and guitarist Kevin Eubanks - is comprised of some of the best jazz artists according to Cosby and a bunch of other folks who know what jazz is supposed to not only sound like, but feel like when it digs deep into your mind, soul and guts. All were simply amazing, but trombonist Turre was the show-stopper when he played "All Blues" on conch shells. Those unfamiliar with his "Sanctified Shells" success dropped their collective jaws when they quickly recognized the classic composition being played on sea shells. Then amazed wonder turned into stupendous applause.

Cosby had already teased LACOHSA jazz director Jason Goldman, suggesting that these teens were probably "held back" a few times because they played like old, veteran musicians rather than children. Gerald Clayton, a graduate of the arts magnet school on the Cal State Los Angeles campus, symbolized the bridge between exceptional young instrumentalists and professionally gifted players. It was definitely more than a gene pool thang for the son of bassist/composer/arranger John Clayton and nephew of saxophonist Jeff Clayton. Undoubtedly, young Clayton did more than listen to the incredible array of artists coming and going in his family home during his childhood. He embraced the music and delved into it with every fibre of his being, and it shows in his edgy, easy handling of the keys while playing with masters much older than himself.

Hefner, a child of the Great Depression who celebrated his 80th birthday this spring, called jazz the magical music of his youth, an art form that is still evolving, driven by the imaginations and skills of those who play it, a blend of melodies and rhythms that "fill the heart and cut through all the boundaries that separate us all over the world" and represents culturally diverse elements. He lamented the deaths of iconic giants, but noted others remain and more will come to play the music that "is the stuff of dreams."

The truth of his claims played out on the festival stage.

Young lions and masters mixed well in the shared spotlight of performance by the Clayton-Hamilton orchestra. Conductor John and saxist Jeff Clayton, drummer Jeff Hamilton and the veterans in the big band interplayed with younger vibraphonist Stefon Harris in perfectly executed compositions and improvisational excellence.

Branford Marsalis' faster numbers were measured synchronizations of sound expertly presented and his ballads were lyrically lilting, both soothing and psychic in distinctively different ways. Toss all his concert colleagues - drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts whose nickname should be changed to Train because he's like a locomotive barreling down the tracks, pianist Joey Calderazzo whose fingers are like lightning and bassist Eric Revis whose incredible acoustic fingering acts as a second timekeeping device - into the sizzling sidemen category.

George Duke and Stanley Clarke are fused music at its finest. They elevate pop, rock, R&B, soul, jazz, even Spanish Flamenco music to a higher level and have a whole lotta fun doing it. It's a quartet with Phil Davis doubling on keys and Ronald Bruner on drums, but their texture and technique make the ensemble sound like an octet.

There's a message in the music of Duke and Clarke. Do it well. Do it because you love it. Be creative and ingenuous while you do it.

Living legends Marian McPhartland and Dr. Billy Taylor gave Eldar their stamp of approval. This 19-year-old prodigy doesn't just play like an old man. He plays like an old master - and no wonder since he's been listening to and emulating Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans since he was 5-years-old.

Elder Babb and his thundering herd hail from Harlem's United House of Prayer for All People, but they sure sound like New Orleans with their brassy shouts, strutting and exhilarating rhythms straight from Sunday morn at a Pentecostal church. Babb and sons' energetic set stirred the crowd before the Preservation Hall Jazz Band arrived to put icing on the cake. And whoever that young, leaning, stomping and exhorting the spirit trombonist was, he put extra fire in an already hot set.

The blending of generational talent in the session by pioneering pianist Eddie Palmieri and young lions Regina Carter on violin and David Sanchez on saxophones showed that Latin and Afro-Cuban jazz is not only safely entrenched in rhythms, but it's also cutting new territory.

New Orleans great Allen Toussaint was regretfully reduced to mere sideman status on the set by sweaty, mediocre Elvis Costello, but Toussaint deftly demonstrated you don't need much space to be great. Whenever he held the vocal mike and piano solo, he was delightful. Most folks preferred glimmers of Toussaint to the straining, sweaty delivery of Costello.

Disappointment disappeared instantly when Albright, Lorber and Whalum took center stage for a wildly exciting close to 17 hours of fantastic music.

Everybody loved Grover Washington Jr., nicknamed Gentleman Grover by this writer because of his stage sensitivity and his off-stage respect for humanity. He often closed Playboy and when he did, everyone stayed until he played the last note on Sunday night. His spirit imbued the three artists saluting him in a triple threat set. Like Grover, Lorber, Whalum and Albright combined pop and jazz without losing the integrity or excitement of mainstream jazz.