Steve Turre wasted no time in getting to the most unusual part of his musical repertoire in his first set at Kilbourn Hall Wednesday night. He set up the theme of his first tune by playing four different conch shells in succession. He found his notes by inserting his hand while blowing. There was no guesswork about it; Turre knows how to make music with conches.

For most of the rest of his set, Turre excelled on his main instrument, the trombone. His band was full of equally great players, including saxophonist Billy Harper and pianist Xavier Davis. They all took wonderful solos on Turre's tunes, many of which were built on the chord changes of jazz standards. Turre's finest composition was a ballad, "Brother Ray." In the right hands a trombone can sing, and Turre's sang an evocative tribute to his former boss and bandleader, Ray Charles.

I visited Christ Church twice Wednesday night because I was transfixed by the playing of British pianist John Taylor. I can now understand why people speak of him in the same breath as Keith Jarrett. Although he did not improvise his pieces from scratch as Jarrett does, they were built on endless layers of complex musical inventions. Taylor's technique was breathtaking throughout and some of his playing had the ecstatic feeling of Jarrett's famous Koln Concert.

Among his most unusual performances was a rendition of a Steve Swallow tune that involved a lot of playing inside the piano. Usually when pianists go under the hood they strike a few notes or strum a bit and are back out fast. Taylor spent a lot of time there and had a larger array of sounds, which he exploited effectively. As a nice final touch, Taylor left the audience with a beautiful lullaby-like piece by a Swedish composer "to remember as you leave."

One on the reasons I loved the Sicilian Jazz Project at last year's festival was the expressive power of the group's guitarist/singer, Dominic Mancuso. l wrote that he reminded me of an Italian Elvis Costello. Last year, when he sang only in Italian, I couldn't understand a word. I've always liked the romance of songs I can't understand; I didn't think he even spoke English.

So, I was a little shocked when Mancuso began his set at the Rochester Club by speaking perfect English. Then he proceeded to sing in English, ruining all of my illusions. But, at least I got the Elvis Costello part right; he's got a great kind of punky attitude. And he was soon back to singing songs in Italian, so I could go back to imagining what they were about.

The first glimpse I got of Grace Kelly, through the tiny opening between people in the packed Montage Grille, was of a petite teenager in a bright blue dress playing a sopranino saxophone. The little instrument looked like a toy, but she wasn't playing it like one. The hype is true --- she is quite the wunderkind.

I knew she was an excellent saxophonist (she soon switched to her main instrument, an alto sax) but she is also a fine singer and a budding songwriter. To top it off she's got a great stage personality, not to mention that name. There was still a line outside when I left toward the end of the late show. It's a safe bet she'll be back at a bigger venue next year.

Thursday I'm looking forward to hearing the latest incarnation of native-son vibraphonist Joe Locke's band with singer Kenny Washington at Kilbourn Hall. I'll also catch England's Get the Blessing at Christ Church and trumpeter Sean Jones at Max at Eastman Place.