It’s one thing to hear a superb set from a known giant like Randy Brecker; it’s a different, particularly exhilarating feeling to witness a great performance by a relatively unknown singer like bold" class="Apple-style-span">Tessa Souter. Judging from the ovations she received at High Fidelity Saturday night, the entire audience felt the same way.

And they should have felt special; at one point Souter invited all of us back to her hotel room. That was part of her effortless, funny and flirt-heavy between-song patter. At least I don’t think she was serious. I hope nothing major went on without me.

Souter has a way of entering a song, living it intensely for a few moments, and then returning to the real world. She performed some wonderful Brazilian tunes, but my favorite was her own “You Don’t Have To Believe.” Among the fine musicians backing her was Essiet Essiet, who took two excellent bass solos.

My next stop was the Eastman Theatre, where Jerry Lee Lewis played a short but memorable set.  Fifty years after his “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” changed the course of music history, Lewis still pounds the ivories at both ends in a manner that reminds us in no uncertain terms that the piano is a percussion instrument. And he’s still got the voice to convince us that love can explode like “Great Balls of Fire.”

If we needed a reminder that Lewis hails from the earliest days of rock & roll, we didn’t have to look any further than his back up band, neatly clad in matching Meet-the-Beatles suits.

Aside from the “Shakin” and the “Great Balls,” a more subtle highlight came when Lewis performed a beautiful honky tonk rendition of “Over the Rainbow.”

I ended the night in Kilbourn Hall with trumpeter Randy Brecker’s hard-driving quintet, featuring saxophonist Ada Rovatti.  The group played all originals, most of them by Brecker. One of the best moments came when they slowed down a bit to perform a new “Moon Suite” merging tunes by Brecker and Rovatti. 

Brecker is a stunningly great trumpet player; every solo was perfect. Rovatti was not as muscular on her tenor, but shone particularly well the one time she picked up a soprano sax. Ultimately, it was pianist Dave Kikoski who stole the show with his manic, frenetic solos.

As for Sunday, with no headliner at the Eastman Theatre I can catch more of the great club acts.  I’ve got to hear Benny Golson, a legendary saxophonist and a great composer. Fred Hersch is too good a pianist to resist. And, I’d like to check out Lalo, an excellent vibraphonist.†