A NEW ORLEANS NIGHT AT THE BOWL

A Hot Night in New Orleans was the operating title for Wednesday night’s Jordache Jazz at the Hollywood Bowl concert, but most of the music was more cool than hot, and the Crescent City emerged as an occasional way station rather than a destination.

Pete Fountain opened the program with an easy-rhythm sextet whose sound owed a lot to the Benny Goodman small groups and gratifyingly little to the “Dixieland” style that has been inaccurately ascribed to the clarinetist’s music for much of his career.

Playing with a noticeably more appealing tone than usual, Fountain zipped through a group of Swing-styled pieces--”Shine,” “My Blue Heaven,” and “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans” among them--that were dominated by an effervescent interaction between the leader’s clarinet, Frank Flynn’s vibes and Ray Sherman’s coolly articulate piano.

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band brought the New Orleans connection into focus with its refreshingly original version of contemporary delta sounds. Throwing everything from be-bop, rhythm & blues, traditional jazz and funk into their mix, the Dirty Dozen started slowly, but soon settled into the steaming rhythmic groove that is one of the genuinely unique sounds in popular music.

Al Hirt capped off the performance with a set that was as bewildering as it was inadequate. Gray-bearded and somewhat slimmer-looking than usual, the trumpeter seemed casual and detached--almost to the point of disinterest.

His versions of “Struttin’ With Some Barbecue” and “Someday You’ll Be Sorry” attempted an association with Louis Armstrong that reached a peak of sheer tastelessness in a parodistic vocal on the latter title.

Hirt’s legendary technical skills--once marveled at even by those who had no special affection for his music--sputtered and sparked only intermittently. More often he relied on the easy gimmickry of throwaway runs and fuzzy triple-tonguing.

Sadly, Hirt’s most fortunate achievement of the evening was the allocation of generous solo space to the fine backup trio of pianist Dave Zoller, bassist Chris Clark and drummer Bobby Breaux.

Attendance at the program was a near-capacity 17,847.