James, Guy show off mastery of blues

In the long strange trip that the jazz programming at the Hollywood Bowl is taking this summer, Wednesday night’s event dedicated to the blues represented one of the season’s more credible jazz events. The performances by singer Etta James and guitarist-singer Buddy Guy touched both the roots and the contemporary aspects of the blues while at the same time revealing the long-standing interrelationship between the blues and jazz.

Guy, who opened the evening, was switched on from the initial notes of Willie Dixon’s “I Just Want to Make Love to You.” Singing the song’s first four words, Guy paused to allow members of the audience to finish the sentence -- which they did, enthusiastically. And that was just the beginning of a program galvanized by the vocal powers and the adroit guitar work of this extraordinary master of musical space and time.

On Dixon’s “Hootchie Cootchie Man,” Guy started at triple pianissimo, allowing the piece’s familiar background riff to establish itself in wide open space. Floating his lyrics softly above the riff, he set the stage for a roaring midsection, delivering the tune with a dramatic effect easily surpassing most of the familiar rock versions.

Guy further enlivened his set by bringing out Grammy-winning singer-guitarist John Mayer. His arrival for “Drowning on Dry Land” transformed the program into a spontaneous jam, filled with spirited improvisations tossed among Guy, Mayer, saxophonist Jay Moynihan, keyboardist Mary Sammon and guitarist Ric Hall. It was as mesmerizing a performance as I have seen in this summer’s Bowl jazz programming.

It was also a tough act for James and her Roots Band to follow. Still, with classics such as “Tell Mama,” “I’d Rather Go Blind,” “Damn Your Eyes” and, of course, “At Last,” James -- working the crowd with the skills of the diva she is -- fully justified her position in the spotlight.