Jazz Reviews : Nancy Wilson, Wynton Marsalis at the Greek

Singer Nancy Wilson, who has meandered through jazz and pop circles in her 30 years as a performer, proved once again at the Greek Theatre Thursday that her considerable talents are more suited to meaty material like “Guess Who I Saw Today,” her first hit, than to “Forbidden Lover,” her most recent.

The latter, done as a duet with guest Carl Anderson, had plenty of staged drama but not much content, while the former, where the lyrics describe a wife’s witnessing her husband’s indiscretion as clearly as a movie, is chilling to the core.

Wilson--accompanied by Llew Mathews (piano), John B. Williams (bass) and Roy McCurdy (drums)--sang with poise and power, never allowing her tunes to become overly emotional.

Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, who closed the concert, delivered a set that was stylistically diverse and oddly paced.

Marsalis’ solid sextet--Todd Williams (tenor sax), Wesley Anderson (alto sax), Marcus Roberts (piano), Reginald Veal (bass) and Herlin Riley (drums)--worked with conviction and persuasion throughout.

For Marsalis, a man who has long emulated the harmonically elusive approach of mid-’60s Miles Davis, his performance represented a curious stance, even an artistic leap backward.

He is a musician obviously in search of a personal voice; if he keeps looking, he may find it.