Thailand seems to need a generous helping of hot jazz every cool season, and the Jazz Royale Festival got things cooking nicely last weekend in Bangkok, the start of a cross-country series.

The organisers at the Tourism Authority gave fans an impressive roster of top foreign talent, on a stage surrounded by the sponsors' booths - Thai Airways, TMB Bank and Horseshoe Point - and food and beverage kiosks.

Bangkok resident Cheryl Hayes and the Oriental Jazz Quartet kicked off both evenings with a set that included "Blue Day" - His Majesty the King's music set to lyrics by Prince Chakrabandh Pensiri.

The Oriental Hotel's band was right on the money, with Darin Panthumkomol terrific at the piano. He was the only Thai musician in the festival.

The McCoy Tyner Trio romped through 40 minutes with Tyner, a revered, 67-year-old pianist from Philadelphia, letting his music do all the communicating for him. His rhapsodic improvisation was impressive, but wasn't quite enough to get things stirring.

Regina Carter was making her second appearance in Bangkok, and the fans were out in force for her classically driven violin jazz.

Carter paid tribute to her mother, who died last year, with tunes from her new album "I'll Be Seeing You - A Sentimental Journey". It features hits from her mum's era, from the '20s to the '40s, Regina's violin singing in its own bittersweet voice.

The Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band, with some of the guys who played with the late, great legend - trumpeter Claudio Roditi, Paquito D'Rivera on reeds and James Moody on sax - delivered a generous share of "Dizzy's Business", the band's just-released album.

The magic of the swing, bebop and jazz giant Gillespie had an extra measure of magic in the voice of Italian singer Roberta Gamborini.

Kenny G is playing five shows during the Jazz Royale Thailand tour, and he got off to a great start on opening night with a dazzling extended solo.

The audience was impressed, and even more so when he chatted with them in Thai, his ability augmented by Thai messages on the big screen behind him. Most of the songs he played were familiar, right up to the closer, "Songbird", and there were a few tracks from his new album as well.

Sunday night's imported talent included Ahmad Jamal, whose powerful performance with bassist James Cammack and drummer Idris Muhammad bubbled up quite a froth.

Jamal shed his jacket and wailed away at the piano in a black satin shirt, bringing new life to standards including "Like Someone in Love" and "I'm Glad There is You".

Young trumpeter Chris Botti earned a lot of fans with his wide range of styles, from hardcore jazz to pop and contemporary. A lot of cameras were busy at stagefront while he was playing the beautifully sweet "Embraceable You" from the album "To Love Again".

Botti's pianist, two-time Grammy Award winner Billy Childs, was outstanding on "When I Fall in Love" and Leonard Cohen's "The Thousand Kisses Deep".

Guitarist Mark Whitfield took his turn in the spotlight on Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely" and - after Botti charmed a female fan down front with "My Funny Valentine" - drummer Billy Kilson soloed on the finale, "Relativity". The band was clearly packed with talent.

At age 70, singer Nancy Wilson is the picture of elegance. She's a complete charmer onstage, and was unfazed by a microphone that refused at first to cooperate, talking casually with the audience while things got fixed.

Wilson's experience shone through on "Take Love Easy", a Duke Ellington favourite she's got on her latest CD, "Turned to Blue", and the classic turns of "These Golden Years" and "Never Will I Marry".

Next came Bonnie Raitt's plaintive "I Can't Make You Love Me" and the evergreen tunes "Guess Who I Saw Today", "Please Send Me Someone to Love" and "How Long Has This Been Going On".

Regardless of how long it had been going on, a lot of the fans wished that Wilson would keep on singing the rest of the night.

But it was again Kenny G who ended the evening, some who'd seen him 24 hours earlier taking his entrance as their cue to leave. The vast majority remained, though, and Mr G didn't disappoint, staying onstage even longer than he had on Saturday - and speaking more clever Thai.

His lengthy solo on "Songbird" is evidently the result of "40 years and six months' practice". It was worth every minute.

n Vipasai Niyamabha,

 Tod Sophonsiri

 The Nation