Rene Marie Headines in Big Sur
Last year''s Monterey Jazz Festival was a stunner by any standard-but even amid the young stars (Joshua Redman and Roy Hargrove, et al) and the stalwarts (Michael Brecker and Dave Brubeck, et al), Rene Marie stood out.

A vocalist with a straightforward delivery that belies a dramatic and fresh approach, Marie gently blew away a couple of packed rooms with her powerfully personal style-even before she unveiled her trademark medley "Dixie/Strange Fruit," which was nothing short of a revelation.

Marie plays Saturday at the Big Sur Jazz Festival''s main event, in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, headlining a show that runs from 11am to 6 pm. Opening will be Quetzal, the Josh Jones Quartet, Vivendo de Pao and the JazzMasters Workshop.

Rene Marie will also perform Friday evening at the Post Ranch Inn.

Also Friday night at 7pm in the Red Barn Studio, the Senegalese singer, guitarist, and percussionist Henri-Pierre Koubaka will be joined by the incomparable Big Sur Natives Fire Dancers.

Sunday morning, local heroes Along Came Betty play at the Ventana Inn and Spa. And later Sunday, on the lawn at the Henry Miller Library with Allegria-featuring local hero Paul Contos and the innovative bassist/composer Mark Hammersly-followed by Frizz, a jazz string quartet that impresario Magnus Toren says is "like Grappelli meets bluegrass by way of the Grateful Dawg."

Calvin Keys, a wonderful guitarist, will close out events with an evening performance at Nepenthe.

-Eric Johnson

To purchase tickets or get directions, call 667-1530.

Big Names at Little J&B Co.
The CarmelJazzFest, a kind of mini-festival that features some excellent players, presents the prodigious duo of bassist John Clayton and guitarist Bruce Forman on Friday.

Clayton is a gifted arranger and conductor who''s best known for leading a superb Los Angeles-based big band with his brother, alto saxophonist Jeff Clayton, and the superlative drummer Jeff Hamilton. Back in the early ''90s, the powerfully swinging bassist recorded a couple of albums with Forman for the San Francisco-based Kamei Recordings, including a thrilling trio session with drummer Tootie Heath In the Still of the Night.

"This gig is a major reunion, we haven''t played for years," Clayton says from LA. "We''ll be revisiting some of the things we did once upon a time, as well as some of our own compositions. For me Bruce represents someone who can kick me in the butt. He''s so wonderfully intense, and approaches his music with such energy."

The festival continues on Saturday with a performance by the potent boogie-woogie pianist Philippe LeJeune''s trio featuring two local stalwarts-Chazz Mewert on drums and Brian McConnell on bass. A classically trained French pianist who was deeply influenced by the great bluesman Memphis Slim, LeJeune is a hard-swinging player with a powerful left hand.

The local showcase for Forman is particularly appropriate as the Carmel Valley resident is a product of the Northern California jazz scene. A widely respected player who has worked with jazz legends like Ray Brown, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson and Bobby Hutcherson, Forman has spent much of the last two years setting up the JazzMasters Workshop, a nonprofit organization, launched in late 2000 in the Carmel Youth Center, that allows aspiring musicians to gain first-hand experience with some of jazz''s finest fretsters on a weekly basis.

There are few experiences more inspirational for jazz guitar fans than watching Forman tear through a series of bebop phrases. Paired with Clayton''s fat, woody bass-which once propelled the Count Basie Orchestra-they make a duo that''s as formidable as any in the business.

"There''s no drums to hide behind," Clayton says.

-Andrew Gilbert

For information, call the Carmel Jazz and Blues Company: 624-6432.